The Philippine Army (PA) installed a new Army Governance and Strategy Management Office (AGSMO) chief in a Change of Chief of Office Ceremony at the Army headquarters (HPA) in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Monday, Jan. 31.
Col. Rodrigo Magallanes formally assumed the post from outgoing chief, Col. Joel Paloma, in a turnover ceremony presided by Maj. Gen. Roberto Capulong, PA Chief of Staff.
In his speech, Capulong enjoined all the troops to support the leadership of Magallanes as he steers the Army to be a more competent organization by pushing for the continuation of the Army Transformation Roadmap (ATR).
“Col. Magallanes, we have our work here in HPA cut out for us. Let us double our efforts and boost our collaboration with all HPA offices and PA Major Units to ensure the success of our ATR’s third and final base camp,” Capulong said.
“Now, more than ever, the Command expects the committed service of AGSMO as we execute our third and last base camp wherein we aim to achieve our full potential as a world-class Army by 2028,” he remarked.
Prior to his assumption, Magallanes served as AGSMO deputy chief since April 2021. He held key positions at the Joint Task Force Central of the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) and as Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the 6th Infantry Division (6ID).
Magallanes is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Maalab” Class of 1993. He holds a Master in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines and a Master in Public Management from the Development Academy of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Paloma will now be a ground commander after he was designated as the new Assistant Division Commander of the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) based in Cagayan de Oro City after leading the AGSMO for four years.
“True to your name Paloma, which translates to ‘dove,’ you will be instrumental in our mission of attaining lasting peace and protecting freedom and democracy, especially with this coming national and local elections in May 2022,” Capulong said.
Paloma is a member of the PMA “Sambisig” Class of 1991. He holds a Diploma in Strategy and Defence Studies from the University of Malaya in Malaysia.