Lt. Gen Cirilito Sobejana, the first Medal of Valor awardee appointed as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, will formally assume his post in a change of command ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday.

The ceremony is expected to be led by President Rodrigo Duterte around 5pm.

Sobejana, the Army chief, will replace Gen. Gilbert Gapay who will also have his retirement ceremony on the same event.

Sobejana earned the Medal of Valor in 1996 after showing gallantry as he and his men fought around 150 members of the Abu Sayyaf in Isabela, Basilan in 1995.

In that battle, Sobejana lost his right arm but ordered his men to hold their ground until reinforcements arrived.

A Medal of Valor is the highest military award given to a Filipino soldier which is equivalent to the Congressional Medal of Honor of the United States of America.

According to AFP spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, Sobejana who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1987 is the first AFP chief who was awarded the Medal of Valor.

It can be recalled that on May 2019, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte also bestowed him the Philippine Legion of Honor (Degree of Legionnaire), "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service rendered to the Philippine Government, particularly to the Armed Forces of the Philippines," Robina Asido/DMS