BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negrense Army Col. Eliglen Villaflor is the new commander of Armed Forces of the Philippines – Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG).
JSOG supervises elite units of the AFP in the conduct of highly specialized operations, such as anti-guerilla and counter-terrorist, intelligence and counter intelligence, as well as disaster relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations.
Prior to his present position, Villaflor, of Brgy. Ma-ao, Bago City, Negros Occidental, served as chief of staff, deputy and later as acting commander of the Special Forces Regiment (Airborne) and director of the Army Personnel Management Center.
JSOG is also under the supervision of AFP Special Operations Command, which has the control of all Philippines military special operations units.
AFP SOCOM is headed by Maj. Gen. Francisco Ariel Felicidario III.
Felicidario was previously assigned in Negros as commander of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion, while Villaflor served as commander of the 32nd Special Forces Company.
One of the predecessors of Villaflor, Col. Oriel Pangcog, at JSOG, and newly-designated Army’s 1st Infantry Division Commander, Maj. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, also served as 1st SR Battalion commander in central Negros.
Villaflor is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1992. He holds a degree on Masters on Human Resource Management from University of Newcastle in Australia and Masters in Public Management Major in Development and Security from the Development Academy of the Philippines.*
