MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has chosen Navy Vice Commander Rear Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta as the new chief of the Philippine Navy,

Ezpeleta was sworn into office on Friday, November 15, following a change-of-command ceremony at the Navy headquarters in Manila.

Ezpeleta takes over from the post that Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. vacated due to retirement. Adaci was appointed to the post in November 2022, and was initially meant to serve a fixed three-year term. But in May 2023, the Philippines introduced legislation that changed the maximum tour of duty for chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force from three to two years.

Ezpeleta, prior to assuming the top post in the Navy, was its vice commander. He assumed the post only in August 2024.

The new Navy chief is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Sambisig” Class of 1991. He was also chief of Naval Staff and the commander of Naval Forces Southern Luzon.

Ezpeleta takes over a Navy in transition. The Philippines has been shifting its focus from internal to external defense. For the Philippines, it has meant enhancing its maritime defense capabilities, particularly in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippine government has been developing its Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept as part of its shift to external defense.

China claims most of the South China Sea, including parts that are within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea. It’s Navy personnel who man the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting warship that was ran ground in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to serve as a makeshift outpost.

Navy personnel, too, conduct regular maritime patrols around the West Philippine Sea and in other maritime areas surrounding the Philippines. The Marines in the northernmost parts of the Philippines, meanwhile, are part of the Philippines’ “contingency” amid fears of rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait because of China’s dreams to reunify with Taiwan. – Rappler.com