House Speaker Martin Romualdez expects the reconciled bill seeking amendments to Republic Act (RA) No.11709 to ensure balance, continuity, and professionalism in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) leadership.

During the HOR-AFP fellowship series (Visayas leg) in Cebu City Thursday, Romualdez shared to the AFP brass the progress that the amendatory bill has achieved in Congress (House of Representatives and Senate).

He was particularly happy to report “that we in the House of Representatives have just ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposals to amend RA No. 11709, which fixes the terms of military officers".

The House leader pointed out that the measure would pave the way for “a regular turnover of leadership, (which) is essential to maintaining a healthy and professional Armed Forces that is accountable to the people it serves".

“Regular turnover can ensure that new ideas and perspectives are constantly being introduced and that there is a healthy culture of competition and meritocracy within the Armed Forces,” said the Leyte 1st district congressman.

Under RA No.11709, also known as the Act Strengthening Professionalism in the AFP, the AFP chief-of-staff, vice chief-of-staff, deputy chief-of-staff, heads of the major services (Army, Navy and Air Force), unified command commanders and inspector general will have a three-year term of office "unless sooner terminated by the President".

As per the amendatory bill, the chief-of-staff would still enjoy a fixed term or tenure of three years unless sooner replaced by the President, as the current law provides.

However, the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Philippine Military Academy chiefs would have a shorter tour of duty of two years.

The retirement age of AFP personnel would be increased by one year, from 56 years old to 57 years old.

The existing law was signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte only on April 13, 2022.

Suffice it to say that certain provisions of RA No.11709 caused grumblings among some AFP personnel, particularly on how these would affect their careers.

This led to the rather quick turnaround for solons from both the House and the Senate to pursue revisions to the law.