Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

AFP Chief of Staff of the Philippines
Incumbent General Gregorio Pio Catapang
Appointer	President of the Philippines
Inaugural holder	Artemio Ricarte (Revolutionary) Jose Delos Reyes (AFP)
Formation	December 21, 1935
Website	Philippine Armed Forces

The following is the list of Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The Armed Forces of the Philippines were created as a result of the December 21, 1935 National Defense Act, Commonwealth Act No. 1. However, the origin of the organization can be traced back to the establishment of the Philippine Constabulary, armed Filipino forces organized in 1901 by the United States to combat the Philippine Revolutionary Forces then led by General Emilio Aguinaldo.

Chiefs of Staff of the AFP

File:Alfredo M Santos.jpg

General Alfredo M. Santos was the 8th Chief of Staff of the Third Republic under President Diosdado Macapagal and the first four-star general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (1962 to 1965)

General Rigoberto Atienza served as the 9th Chief of Staff of the Third Republic under President Diosdado Macapagal.

General Romeo Espino is the longest serving Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, from 1971 - 1980.

General Fabian Ver is the second most powerful man during the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.

File:Angelo-reyes.jpg

After his retirement as Chief-of-Staff, General Angelo Reyes served in various posts under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration. Reyes served as Chief-of-Staff from 2000 until March 2001.

General Hermogenes Esperon (left, in green) served as AFP Chief-of-Staff from July 2006 until May 2008. He ran for Congress in the 2010 general elections but lost.

Emmanuel T. Bautista served as AFP Chief-of-Staff from January 2013 until July 2014.

First Republic
Chief-of-Staff	Term	Military Branch	Comments
General Artemio Ricarte	March 22, 1897-January 22, 1899	RA (Revolutionary Army)	Ricarte was elected Captain-General by the Tejeros Convention.
General Antonio Luna	January 22, 1899-June 5, 1899	RA	Luna was assassinated by General Aguinaldo's men.
General Emilio Aguinaldo	June 5, 1899-March 23, 1901	PRA	Aguinaldo personally took charge after General Antonio Luna's assassination.
Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935-1946)
Major General Jose Delos Reyes	December 15, 1935-May 6, 1936	Philippine Commonwealth Army
Major General Paulino Santos	May 6-December 31, 1936	Philippine Commonwealth Army
General Douglas MacArthur		United States Armed Forces in the Far East	MacArthur served in Acting Capacity.
Major General Basilio Valdez		Philippine Constabulary Philippine Commonwealth Army
Second Republic (Japanese Occupation)
Third Republic (1946-1971)
Major General Rafael Jalandoni		Philippine Constabulary	Jalandoni was the first Chief of Staff from the Philippine Constabulary
Major General Mariano Castañeda		Philippine Constabulary Philippine Army
Major General Calixto Duque		Philippine Army
Lieutenant General Jesus Vargas	1953-1956	Philippine Army	Vargas is the first military officer to be promoted to Lieutenant General by President Ramon Magsaysay.
Lieutenant General Alfonso Arellano		Philippine Army
Lieutenant General Manuel Cabal		Philippine Constabulary
Lieutenant General Pelagio Cruz	December 1961-September 1, 1962	Philippine Air Force	Cruz is the first Chief of Staff of the AFP from the Philippine Air Force.
General Alfredo Santos	September 1, 1962-July 13, 1965	Philippine Army	Santos was the first Filipino four-star general in history, promoted by President Diosdado Macapagal. The first military officer to become chief of staff that came from the ROTC program of the government.
General Rigoberto Atienza		Philippine Army
General Ernesto Mata		Philippine Army	During the Marcos regime, especially during its second term, he served as the Secretary of National Defense.
General Victor Osias		Philippine Air Force
General Segundo Velasco		Philippine Army
General Manuel T. Yan	1968-1972	Philippine Constabulary	Yan served as the youngest chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at the age of 48. Prior to that, he was the chief of the Philippine Constabulary. He currently holds the record for longest continuous government service from 1937- 2001 or 64 years of service.
Third & Fourth Republic (1971-1986)
General Romeo Espino	1972-1981	Philippine Army	Espino served as the Commanding General of the Philippine Army before appointed to become the top military man. Espino is the longest-serving Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for nine years, especially during the martial law regime. A second product of the ROTC. During his term, he was fair in administering the military, unlike his successor, General Fabian Ver.
General Fabian Ver	1981-1986	Philippine Constabulary	Ver is considered a loyalist and the second most powerful man in the country next to President Ferdinand Marcos in the later years of his authoritarian regime, replacing then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, who held the status since 1972 when Marcos named him as martial law administrator upon the imposition of martial law. Ver, in fact, was the most powerful military officer at that time for, aside from being the top military man, he is also the commander of the Presidential Security Command and the director-general of NISA, the Marcos regime's secret police. The third military officer appointed as chief of staff that came from ROTC. During his term, he was known for his favoritism especially in the promotion of officers.
Fifth Republic (1986- Present)
General Fidel V. Ramos	1986-1988	Philippine Constabulary Philippine Army	Ramos then, before becoming the chief of the now defunct Philippine Constabulary on 1972, he was the commander of Philippine Army's 3rd Division in Cebu. On the 1980's he was promoted into vice-chief of staff with the rank of lieutenant general but remained as PC chief. After the EDSA revolt that ousted Marcos his cousin from power, he became the AFP chief. Later after retiring as AFP chief of staff during the term of President Corazon Aquino served as Secretary of National Defense and was elected President of the Philippines in 1992 and served until 1998.
General Renato De Villa	1988-1991	Philippine Constabulary	Prior to becoming chief of staff, on 1986, De Villa was named to be the chief of the Philippine Constabulary (now defunct), then an AFP major service acting as the country's police force while he was also named to be AFP vice-chief of staff with the rank of three-star general. Upon retirement, De Villa served as Secretary of National Defense when he retired in 1991 and ran for president but lost to Joseph Estrada and Executive Secretary under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
General Rodolfo Biazon	1991	Philippine Marine Corps	Biazon served in the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives after his retirement as AFP chief of staff in 1991. He is the first and only Chief of Staff from the PMC . Prior to that, he served as the commander of the AFP NCR Defense Command on 1988 and Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps on 1987. He had also served as the superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy on 1986.
General Lisandro Abadia	1991-April 12, 1994	Philippine Army
General Arturo Enrile	April 12, 1994-November 28, 1996	Philippine Army	Enrile later served as Secretary of the DOTC under President Fidel Ramos.
General Arnulfo Acedera		Philippine Air Force	Second AFP chief of staff came from the Philippine Air Force
General Clemente Mariano		Philippine Army
General Joselino Nazareno	1998-2000	Philippine Army	Later served as Ambassador to Pakistan
General Angelo Reyes	2000-2001	Philippine Army	Reyes later served as Secretary of National Defense, Secretary of DILG, Secretary of DENR, and Secretary of DOE under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
General Diomedio Villanueva		Philippine Army
General Roy Cimatu		Philippine Army	Cimatu later served as Special Envoy to the Middle East.
General Benjamin Defensor		Philippine Air Force	The third AFP chief of staff from the Philippine Air Force.
General Dionisio Santiago		Philippine Army	Later served as the director-general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
General Narciso Abaya		Philippine Army
General Efren Abu	November 3, 2004 – August 17, 2005	Philippine Army
General Generoso Senga	August 17, 2005 – July 22, 2006	Philippine Army
General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.	July 22, 2006-May 12, 2008	Philippine Army	Esperon later served as Presidential Adviser on Peace Process under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
General Alexander Yano	May 12, 2008-May 1, 2009	Philippine Army	Yano was the first general to be born in Mindanao and later served as our country's Ambassador to Brunei.
General Victor Ibrado	May 1, 2009-February 2010	Philippine Army
General Delfin N. Bangit	February 2010-June 2010	Philippine Army
Lieutenant General Nestor Ochoa	June 2010	Philippine Army	Ochoa served as AFP Chief-of-Staff in Acting Capacity.
General Ricardo David	June 30, 2010-March 8, 2011	Philippine Army	David was later served as Bureau of Immigration Commissioner under President Benigno Aquino III.
General Eduardo Oban Jr.	March 8, 2011-December 12, 2011	Philippine Air Force
General Jessie Dellosa	December 12, 2011-January 17, 2013	Philippine Army
General Emmanuel T. Bautista	January 17, 2013-July 18, 2014	Philippine Army
General Gregorio Pio Catapang	July 18, 2014-present	Philippine Army

External links

• Reveille: AFP chiefs of staff through the years, Ramon J. Farolan, Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 10, 2010