MANILA - Police Director Noli Taliño has assumed command of the Special Action Force (SAF), the Philippine National Police's (PNP) elite anti-terror unit.

He replaced Police Director Benjamin Lusad, who has been re-assigned to the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Camp Crame.

Taliño is no stranger to the SAF, as he started his career in the unit back in 1984.

He was the SAF's second-in-command during the bloody Mamasapano encounter, which claimed the lives of 44 SAF troopers and dozens of civilians and Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters.

Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, a skilled bomb maker with links to Jemaah Islamiyah, was killed in the operation.

In his speech, Taliño spoke of his fondness for the SAF and his pride as a trooper, and extolled the unit's virtues and accomplishments, most recently during the five-month war between state troops and terrorists in Marawi City, where the SAF lost 4 policemen leading other units in close-quarter combat.

• Comrades laud SAF troopers, cops’ heroism in Marawi siege

Taliño, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1984, was formerly director of the PNP Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development, and regional director of Police Regional Office 7 based in Cebu.

Present during the turnover were PNP Deputy Chief for Administration Ramon Apolinario, former SAF Director Getulio Napeñas, and AFP Task Force National Capital Region Chief Major Gen. Allan Arrojado.

NOW: Police Director Noli Taliño is the new chief of the Special Action Force, the PNP's elite counter terrorism unit. pic.twitter.com/0gW0xdDcXE

— Raffy Sison Santos (@raffsantos) January 23, 2018