Marcos appoints new military chief

Lieutenant General Antonio Nafarrete will assume the position of General Romeo Brawner Jr. who served as chief of staff for three years under a law.

Manuel Mogato | July 21, 2026

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr appointed an Army general who has extensive combat experience in Mindanao to be the next commander of the 150,000- member Armed Forces.

Lieutenant General Antonio Nafarrete will assume the position of General Romeo Brawner Jr. who served as chief of staff for three years under a law. Nafarrete is the commanding general of the Philippine Army.

Nafarrete’s appointment was announced by defense department’s spokesman, Arsenio Andolong, on the same day Brawner will retire after 41 years of active military service.

Andolong also announced Lieutenant General Donald Gumiran, the Western Mindanao Command chief, will replace Nafarrete.

A member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1990, the 57 year-old Nafarrete trained as a member of the elite Scout Ranger unit and rose to command the 6th Infantry Division and the Western Mindanao Command before he was designated as Army commander last year.

Nafarrete is supposed to retire in July 2027 but his appointment as chief of staff extends his active duty status until July 2029.

Nafarrete’s appointment is critical to security operations in the Muslim Mindanao region where a regional parliamentary elections will be held on September 14.

The Army, under Nafarrete, has been transforming into coastal defense force focusing on external defense role.