By Jerry Alcayde CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – The Philippine Army announced the recent appointment of Colonel Jose Augusto V. Villareal as the new commander of the 203 rd Brigade of PA based in Bansud, Oriental Mindoro. Villareal replaced Brigadier General Antonio Lastimado who was appointed as deputy commander of the Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM), which directs and orchestrates all military operations in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Mimaropa (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and Bicol regions. Villareal, a native of Lanao del Sur and a graduate of Philippine Military Academy “Bigkis Lahi” Class of 1990, was the Second Infantry Division’s chief of staff for more than a year prior to his designation as 203rd brigade commander. He was assigned as company commander of 58 th Infantry Batallion in Mindanao, and commanding officer of the First Infantry Battalion based in Laguna. Major Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo B. Burgos Jr., commander of the Second Infantry Division, presided over the formal transfer of authority, responsibility and accountability from Lastimado to Villareal in a simple ceremony held at the brigade headquarters in Barangay Pag-asa in Bansud town. “I assure you that my soldiers will be a friend, a sibling and a partner of our constituents, partner agencies and the general public as we pursue the goals of every peace-loving citizen while we call upon the few remaining New People’s Army (NPA) in the island to speak with the government and heed the nation’s call for unity and reconciliation or suffer the tragic end which peace spoilers are destined to meet,” Villareal said. A Military Merit Medal Interim to Distinguished Service Star was conferred on Lastimado for his meritorious achievements when he was the 203 rd Brigade Commander, among them the creation of Task Forces to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF ELCAC) at all levels, and the unprecedented giving of consent by the local leaders for the creation of local peace coordinating councils.