MAKATI CITY — Outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said Friday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to decide who will succeed him.

"No, the President hasn't decided yet," Brawner told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Makati City.

Brawner said he will submit a shortlist of candidates to the President after the AFP Board of Generals meets.

"We're still going to meet as a Board of Generals," he said, adding that no names have been finalized for the shortlist.

Asked what qualities his successor should possess, Brawner said the next AFP chief should prioritize military modernization and continue adapting to evolving security threats.

"If you look at it, just like what Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said, at the level of defense ministers and chiefs of defense, we're all going through transformations because of evolving technology and the evolving nature of threats. We're almost all in the same boat," he said.

Brawner, a member of the Philippine Military Academy "Makatao" Class of 1989, is set to retire on 21 July.

He is the first AFP chief of staff to complete a fixed three-year term under Republic Act No. 11939, which strengthened professionalism and promoted the continuity of military policies and modernization initiatives.