The relief of Navy Flag Officer in Command (FOIC) Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph Mercado and the appointment of a Navy acting commander on Tuesday sent shocks to the military and defense establishments.
The military hierarchy did not give reasons for the relief of Mercado and the installation of Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad, the former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief of Staff for Reserve and Retirees Affairs, as acting Navy commander.
A statement from acting military Spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo, however, the order of relief came from unnamed “higher authorities” and was only implemented by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
“The AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero has implemented the instructions from higher authorities to: Assign Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph Mercado to the office of the chief of staff, AFP on Special Duties; and install Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad as Acting Flag Officer in Command, Philippine Navy,” the statement said.
“The reason for this change of command will be explained in due time,” Arevalo’s statement added.
Unlike in the past, the relief of Guerrero and the installation of Empedrad was not announced publicly. It was only announced or confirmed after the Armed Forces has already carried out the change of command and turnover ceremony.
The sudden, swift and unexpected relief of Mercado, the first in the history of the Armed Forces in recent years, has rocked the four walls of the military’s general headquarters, with soldiers groping for reasons.
However, reports said that the former Navy chief was taken out of his post because he was questioning a procurement project related to the Armed Forces’s modernization program, which is being pushed by higher officials.
Mercado, member of the Philippine Military Class of 1983, assumed the top Navy post in November last year and is set to retire in March next year.
He was the former commander of the Armed Forces Western Command before he was named as the commander of the Navy.
Despite the controversy, the Navy said it will follow the order and welcomed Empedrad as its chief.
“The Philippine Navy, as a professional organization, always follow a lawful order from the chain of command. With the Change of Command ceremony this morning, the Philippine Navy extends its gratitude to Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph S. Mercado, AFP, for his dedicated service rendered as the Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy,” the Navy said in a statement through its spokesman, Capt. Lued Lincuna.
“Today, we welcome and honor former Deputy Chief of Staff for Retirees and Reservists Affairs, J9, Rear Admiral Robert A. Empedrad, AFP as the Acting FOIC, PN effective today, December 19,” he added.
Lincuna said the Navy “must and will continue to perform our constitutional mandate as the protector of the people and the state.”
1 comment
It is clear that the circumstances of the relief of Vice-Adm. Mercado had something to do with the procurement of the combat information system of the two new frigates.
In other reports, it was stated that he was trying to enforce the original criteria stipulated for the qualification of bidders and the evaluation of their bids.
The fact that he was relieved is worrying – someone is trying to change the rules of the game. Why?