COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 21 July) — “A gentleman and soldier with a high degree of patriotism, he is the best man for the job.”
This is how Rep. Ziar-Rahman “Zia” Alonto Adiong (1st District, Lanao del Sur), described Lt.Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the newly appointed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Adiong, whose friendship with Brawner started during the Marawi siege in 2017, said the latter displayed sensitivity vis-a-vis the locals in handling information related to the conflict.
“He also brought our troops closer to the people,” the lawmaker said, citing the deployment of “Hijab Troopers,” a unit composed of female soldiers and police officers, in Marawi as a symbolic show of respect for Muslim culture.
During the five-month siege, Adiong, then an assemblyman of the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, served as spokesperson for Lanao del Sur while Brawner, then the deputy commander of Task Force Ranao, spoke for the military.
Brawner, then a colonel, was later designated as regiment commander of the Civil Military Operations Group, and still later as commander of the 103rd Infantry “Haribon” Brigade of the Philippine Army in Kampo Ranao in Marawi.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Minister of the Interior and Local Government of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, described Gen. Brawner as a gentleman officer who won the “trust and respect of the people” and his organization.
Sinarimbo volunteered as the head of the Provincial Crisis Committee during the siege.
Journalists that covered the siege described Brawner as a military officer who truly understands their job.
“I deeply understand how you wanted to bring the best in your craft. If only I am in the position to grant, why not?” he once told journalists who really wanted to get an access to Ground Zero in Marawi to get images so they could present a better perspective of the conflict.
As commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade under the 1st Infantry Division, Brawner received from then president Rodrigo Duterte the Order of Lapu-Lapu Award after his troops killed Owayda Marohombsar alias Abu Dar, said to be the successor of Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the ISIS-inspired militants who attacked Marawi.
In the aftermath of the death of Philippine Military Academy Cadet Darwin Dormitorio due to hazing, Brawner was named the acting Commandant of Cadets at the academy in 2019.
In December 2020, Brawner was named as the first Deputy Chief of Staff for Financial Management. He was in charge of the AFP’s financial control, budgeting, and fiscal management.
On July 1, 2021, Brawner was named commander of the 4th Infantry Division in Cagayan De Oro, in charge with counter-insurgency operations in Northern Mindanao and Caraga regions.
During his tenure as division commander, Army troops killed communist leader Jorge Madlos on October 31, 2021, in the outskirts of Impasugong, Bukidnon.
Madlos, commonly known as Ka Oris, was the spokesperson of the New People’s Army National Operational Command and the National Democratic Front.
In December 2021, he was appointed as the 65th Commanding General of the Philippine Army by Duterte and was eventually promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.
Last Wednesday, President Marcos named Brawner as the next chief of the country’s 150,000-strong AFP, replacing Gen. Andres Centino, who will be appointed presidential adviser on the West Philippine Sea.
Brawner, a native of Baguio City, belongs to a family of military officers. He is the grandson of Private Lisbon Brawner, an African-American soldier who served IN the United States Army, and was part of the Buffalo soldiers who saw action during the Filipino-American War.
He is a nephew of the late Brig. Gen. Felix Brawner Jr., an Army officer who served under President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and stayed by his side until his ouster in February 1986 via the Edsa People Power Revolt.
He holds three master’s degrees: information management from the Ateneo de Manila University, business administration from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and European School of Management in United Kingdom, and strategic studies from the United States’ Army War College.
Early this year, Brawner was inducted into the US Army War College International Fellows Hall of Fame for heading the Philippine Army.
He was also conferred the Legion of Merit-Degree of Commander in recognition of his “exceptionally meritorious service” as Army chief. (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)
