MANILA – Armed Forces Chief of Staff Eduardo M. Año, who was instructed to retire early so he can take over the Department of Interior and Local Government, will have to stay longer in the military, after all, and for a bigger role: as chief implementor of martial law in Mindanao.
President Rodrigo Duterte revealed this in an open forum after arriving at the NAIA Wednesday afternoon, adding that he has decided to extend Año’s tour of duty so he can attend to his new role.
Addressing Ano, Duterte said, “you will be the implementor, but you’ll report to a civilian authority, General Cimatu,” referring to the former AFP chief whom he recently designated DENR secretary. It was unclear how this setup is expected to work out.
“Ano is supposed to take his oath of office [at DILG] this week.. . . but I have extended his tour of duty [by] another 6 months,” Duterte said.
He fended off concerns that martial law – which he declared over Mindanao late Tuesday, on receiving news in Moscow about the standoff in Marawi between security forces and the homegrown terrorists seeking ISIS recognition – might lead to rampant abuse of human rights, as happened during the martial law declared by then-President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972.
He said he was ready to gamble with resorting to martial law to stop terrorism.
Duterte said that if he sees the ISIS or ISIS-inspired local groups expanding in Visayas or even Luzon, he may consider expanding the coverage of the martial law in Mindanao to these two other islands.
Año was with Duterte in Moscow late Tuesday when the President declared martial law. However, Año had given assurances in radio interviews that the situation in Marawi was fully under control, and he was confident the commanders on the ground were fully capable of dealing with it.
Año, a veteran in intelligence and counterinsurgency work, is a controversial military officer because he was accused by the family of farmer-activist Jonas Burgos of being part of those who plotted his abduction in 2007. Burgos, considered a poster boy of desaparecidos, remains missing 10 years later.
