President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed former general Eduardo Año as the new National Security Adviser (NSA) replacing Clarita Carlos, Malacañang announced on Saturday.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil confirmed Año’s appointment after the oath-taking at the Palace on Saturday.
Pictures showed the former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff and Interior Secretary under the Duterte administration with his family being sworn in by the President.
The 61-year-old Año replaces Carlos, who assumed the NSA post in June 2022 and will “continue her pursuit of scholastic endeavors” by joining the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) of the House of Representatives, Garafil said.
Año, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983, is a veteran
president…intelligence officer who served as AFP chief from December 2016 to October 2017, then was tapped to head the Department of Interior and Local Governments by Mr. Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.
He is the second ex-Duterte Cabinet official to be tapped by the President this week after fellow ex-general Carlito Galvez, who Mr. Marcos converted from presidential peace adviser to Defense Secretary after he served as COVID-19 czar in the previous administration.
Meantime, Carlos will join the CPBRD, which provides the House with technical service in the formulation of national economic, fiscal and social policies.
“I have realized that it is no longer politic (sensible or judicious under the circumstances) to continue as NSA to the President and so, I have decided to migrate to another agency where my expertise on foreign, defense and security policy will be of use and I shall continue to help build a better Philippines,” Carlos said in a separate statement.
Carlos, a retired political science professor of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, served as the first female civilian president of the National Defense College of the Philippines.
She was also a consultant in Congress and other government agencies, including the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process which Galvez headed.
She authored books and papers about political parties, elections, defense and security, and foreign policy, among others.
