WHEN China reneged on its commitment to pull out its vessels from Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in 2012 and seized de facto control of this rich fishing ground, the Philippines was forced to file an arbitration case before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
After long-drawn proceedings, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled largely in favor of the Philippines. But despite a decade of a victory that we celebrated last July, Beijing continues to violate Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. And with the government’s “white-on-white” strategy (ship’s hull color principle) in preventing the escalation of the dispute to the military realm, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is at the forefront, confronting a much larger and more modern China Coast Guard (CCG).
The PCG’s determination and resilience against the odds to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights are nothing less than heroic. Since it is the “tip of the spear” in every David-and-Goliath confrontation with the CCG, modernizing our coast guard should be more than lip service. Not only do the PCG’s capabilities need to be upgraded, the competencies of its personnel must likewise be elevated to match the Herculean tasks given to this law-enforcement agency. The morale and welfare of every coast guardian must be kept high by whoever succeeds the retiring commandant, Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan, whose service was extended for the continuity of such PCG programs and policies.
Disdained policy
I was surprised to know that long before May 2023, when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had Republic Act (RA) 11939 to abandon the scorned “revolving door” policy, the PCG already had RA 9939 as early as February 2010, precisely to arrest the same abhorred malpractice.
RA 11939 seeks to promote the “continuity of policies and modernization initiatives” in the AFP by, among other provisions, setting a maximum tour of duty of three years for the chief of staff. RA 9993 likewise provides in Sec. 5 a “maximum term of three years” for the commandant. But there is a major infirmity in the latter.
Sec. 1 of RA 11939 provides “x x x a maximum tour of duty of three (3) consecutive years” for the AFP chief, “which shall commence on the date the appointment is signed, unless sooner terminated by the President.” Interestingly, Sec. 5 of RA 9993 does not specify when is the exact day the tolling of the period of maximum three-year term for the PCG commandant commences.
This is why all PCG commandants appointed under RA 9993 — from Adm. Ramon Liwag to Adm. Artemio Abu — served at an average of roughly a year and three months. All of them except Gavan — served less than the maximum term of three years because they had to retire upon reaching the compulsory retirement age of 56. So is Gavan better to set him apart from all his predecessors?
Law ‘tailored’ for Gavan
RA 12122 took cognizance of the infirmity in RA 9993; its passage on Feb. 18, 2025, cured the defect. As a matter of fact, the new law contains only four sections: the most important of which are Sec. 1, which amends Sec. 5 of the old law; and Sec. 2, which provides for its retroactive effect.
Sec. 1 of RA 12122, which specifies that “The Commandant shall have a maximum term of three (3) years,” is a mere reiteration of Sec. 5 of RA 9993. But the addition of the phrase “which shall commence on the date of the appointment is signed, unless sooner terminated by the President” in the new law is critical. It now specifies the period from where the maximum three-year term of the commandant is to be reckoned — a provision not found in RA 9993.
Meanwhile, Sec. 2 of RA 12122 provides for its retroactive effect, even if, as a general rule, laws are supposed to be prospective in their application. That rule is the core principle explicitly codified in Article 4 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. But RA 12122 is an exception because Sec. 2 expressly commands that “this Act shall also apply to the PCG Commandant appointed and/or promoted under Republic Act No. 9993 x x x.” The provision directly points to Gavan and no one else, he being the only commandant in active service who was appointed when RA 9993 was in effect. Fortuna opportuno loco et tempore adesse! The fortune of being present at the right place and time!
A slot in PCG history
Where all the commandants before him were able to serve only up to their compulsory retirement age, RA 12122 allowed Gavan to stay longer at the helm. When he could have retired at 56 on Feb. 21, 2025, he was privileged to continue to serve up to Oct. 18, 2026, to complete his maximum term of three years. And after which, according to the law and to President and Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he will be compulsorily retired.
As Gavan relinquishes his command, he will go down in the annals of PCG history as the first commandant to have served a full three-year term, like his AFP counterpart Gen. Romeo Brawner, who was replaced by Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, who will ably take on the various regional and domestic security challenges the country faces today.
RA 12122 states that the next commandant can be appointed from among the incumbent flag officers, which the president has the sole prerogative of choosing. And the PCG is brimming with candidates endowed not only with rank and seniority but also with command and management expertise that are aligned with the president’s maritime policy priorities.
The six most senior flag-rank officers — all Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduates — who are worthy of succeeding Gavan are Vice Admirals Edgar Ybañez ’93, the incumbent deputy commandant for operations and Gavan’s classmate; Hostillo Cornelio ‘95, the current deputy commandant for administration; Genito Basilio ‘96, commander of the Maritime Safety Services Command; Arnaldo Lim ‘95, commander of the Coast Guard Weapons, Communications, Electronics and Information System Command; Rommel Supangan ‘95, commander of Marine Environmental Protection; and Rear Adm. Weniel Azcuna ‘96, commander of the Coast Guard Fleet.
There’s a rite of passage that PMA Cavaliers hold sacred. A poignant reminder of organizational continuity when the Torch of Command will have to be passed to the younger generation of leaders. And that is found in the last line of the song “Strong Hearts” that every cadet who passed the PMA’s hallowed portals knows by heart: “Young blood shall come to carry on / when old Strong Hearts are gone.”
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