OUTGOING AFP CHIEF. Outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff, Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. thanks all military personnel for their support on his last flag-raising ceremony as military chief at the AFP Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Monday (Sept. 23, 2019). He will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Noel Clement. (Photo courtesy of the AFP Public Affairs Office)
MANILA -- Outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., on Monday said he would retire from service with a "grateful heart and fulfilled soul".
"To all of you, our personnel, the very heart of our institution, I will always cherish the dedication, cooperation, and professionalism you have shown during my time at the helm of the AFP. You’ve made my work easier and more fulfilling and for that, I thank you all,” he said in his last flag-raising ceremony at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
“If you have spent your whole life and dedicated your time in the service, it will be difficult to let go. But I am confident that I have given the service, everything that I am and everything that I can and this somehow makes the parting easier,” he said.
Lt. Gen. Noel Clement, who heads the AFP Central Command, will take over his post during a change-of-command and retirement ceremony Tuesday.
Madrigal, 56, is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985. Clement also belongs to the same class.
Prior to his appointment as AFP chief on December 11, 2018, Madrigal commanded the Eastern Mindanao Command, Southern Luzon Command, the 4th Infantry Division, the 701st Infantry Brigade, and the 26th Infantry Battalion.
Madrigal's previous posts include chief of staff of the Philippine Army; chief of War Plans in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans J5; Secretary Joint Staff; and chief of the Army Management and Fiscal Office. (PNA)
