City officials recently congratulated and commended Lt. Gen. Romeo Saturnino Brawner, Jr. for having been appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. as the new Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
In a resolution authored by Vice Mayor Faustino A. Olowan and Councilors Jose Molintas, Arthur Alad-iw, Isabelo Cosalan, Jr., Lilia A. Farinas and Maximo H. Edwin, Jr., local legislators stated that Brawner’s feat brings honor and pride to the city and serves as an inspiration and motivation to everyone.
Last July 12, 2023, Brawner was appointed by the President as the new AFP Chief of Staff.
The council claimed that Brawner is a true-blue Baguio boy who was a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) having placed second overall in the Makatao Class of 1989.
He holds a Master degree from the prestigious Ateneo de Manila University, particularly on information management, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Thailand, specifically on business administration, the European School of Management at oxford University, especially on business administration, and the United States (US) Army War College, with focus on strategic studies.
For more than three decades in the Philippine Army, Brawner served the military in various capacities such as being the company commander of the 6th Special Forces Company, battalion commander of the 2nd Special forces Battalion, operations officer of the Airborne Special forces Regiment, chief of staff of the 6th Infantry Division and Public Affairs of the Army among others.
He was one of the key commanders of Task Force Ranao during the 5-month terrorist siege of Marawi City in Lanao del Sur in 2017 which included hunting down the remnants of the Islamic State-inspired Maute terrorist group, ensuring an orderly elections plebiscite and ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, as well as the rehabilitation of Marawi City. Eventually, he was promoted to the Mindanao-based 103rd Infantry Brigade in 2018.
Previously, Brawner served as the commandant of cadets of the PMA where he played an important role in the total eradication of hazing and maltreatment in the cadet corps.
He also served as commander of the 4th Infantry ‘Diamond’ Division of the Army where he supervised the unit’s combat operations that resulted in the decisive neutralization of Jorge Madlos or Ka Oris, a top commander of the New Peoples Army (NPA) operating in the Mindanao area.
Copies of the approved resolution will be transmitted to Gen. Brawner for his information, guidance and ready reference.
