National Security Adviser quits due to health reasons

“I have reached this difficult but necessary decision,” Año said in a statement. “In recent months, it has become apparent that I must prioritize my health and well‑being.”

Retired general Eduardo Año took oath as National Security Adviser before President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. last January 14, 2023. Photo from PCO.

Manuel Mogato | April 15, 2026

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s national security adviser has abruptly left his position, citing health reasons, retired general Eduardo Año said in a statement.

Año, a former Armed Forces chief of staff, was replaced by another former Armed Forces chief of staff, retired general Eduardo Oban Jr, who belonged to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1979, the president’s adopted military class.

“I have reached this difficult but necessary decision,” Año, who belonged to PMA class 1983, said in a statement. “In recent months, it has become apparent that I must prioritize my health and well‑being.”

After retiring from military service, Año served as interior and local government secretary under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet. He was appointed national security adviser in 2023.

During the pandemic, he had a heart bypass operation and was twice diagnosed with the coronavirus.

As the national security adviser, Año also served asDirector-general of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

He also sat in the National Intelligence Board and supervised the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.

Ano is a seasoned military intelligence officer who served as the commander of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), the military’s operating intelligence arm.

“I believe it is time to step aside and allow others to lead,” he said in a prepared statement. “An orderly transition is underway, and I am confident that critical operations and ongoing initiatives will continue.”

He said he will leave behind the intelligence organization under retired General Eduardo Oban Jr., who also has an intelligence background as a former commander of the defense department’s intelligence and security group in the late 1980s.

Oban, a fighter pilot, served as chief of staff during Benigno Aquino’s presidency from March to December 2011.