MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has approved amendments for the law setting the term of office of key officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Marcos on Wednesday signed Republic Act 11939 that amends RA 11709, which fixed the term of office for the head and other senior officers of AFP.

• House approves removing fixed term for some military officials

Under the new law, only the AFP chief of staff will have a maximum tour of duty of 3 years unless sooner terminated by the President.

The chiefs of the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, and Philippine Navy, and the superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy will now only have a maximum tour of duty of 2 years unless sooner terminated.

These officials will not be eligible for any post in the AFP unless they are promoted to chief of staff.

Instead of 56 years old, the new law set the age of compulsory retirement to 57 years old for enlisted military personnel and officers with the ranks of second lieutenant or ensign to lieutenant general or vice admiral, or after they have rendered 30 years of active duty in the AFP, whichever comes later.

Meanwhile, those commissioned under Presidential Decree No. 1908 and those appointed in the Corps of Professors will have a compulsory retirement age of 60 years old.

The law also increases the maximum tenure-in-grade or the maximum number of years an individual could hold their position to 5 years from 3 years for those with ranks brigadier general or commodore, and to 10 years from the previous 8 years for colonels or captains in the Philippine Navy.

The amendments to the fixed term law followed reports of "rumblings" in the military over what Defense officer-in-charge Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier called as the "unintended consequences" of RA 11709, which was originally meant to do away with the AFP "revolving door policy" and give military leaders enough time to implement reforms.

• Galvez: ‘Rumblings’ within AFP just ‘tampo’, anxiety over new law on fixed terms

Congress approved the amendments to RA 11709 in March this year or just 2 months after sudden changes in the AFP leadership. This was when Marcos appointed Gen. Andres Centino as the chief of staff, 5 months after designating Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro to the post.

• Centino return as AFP chief seen to beef up anti-insurgency campaign: analyst
• Congress approves fixed tour of duty for AFP officers

During his turnover ceremony in January, Centino said the military should not hold divisions over interpreting the merits of RA 11709.

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