Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro has vowed to put a “premium on time” in serving Filipinos and effectively managing the country’s resources.
“For me, time is a highly valuable commodity. Time that has been wasted can never be allocated,” he said during the ceremonial change of command at Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Monday.
“We have to develop the ability to determine the emergent as well as immediate needs so that we can maximize our resources with a careful eye on the movement of the clock,” he said.
Malacañang on 1 August announced that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. chose Bacarro as the next AFP chief.
Bacarro is a former commander of the Southern Luzon Command. He succeeded his PMA classmate, Gen. Andres Centino.
Bacarro said he is fully aware that the challenges set to him as the highest military official in the country, the first to be given a fixed term of three years.
“I will not take this responsibility lightly,” he said, noting that the “trust and confidence” given him by Marcos would motivate him to do the best that he can “for the country and for the people.”