A VETERAN hunter of the Dawlah Islamiyah terror group has assumed command of the Army 4th Infantry Division which covers the entire Northeastern Mindanao.
Maj. General Jose Maria Cuerpo will replace Maj. General Wilbur Mamawag, who will be retiring from military service next month.
Army Chief Lt. General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the turnover of command for the 4th Infantry Division is scheduled sometime in March before Mamawag would retire.
Cuerpo, a member of the Philippine Military Academy ‘Bigkis-Lahi’ Class of 1990 and who hails from Iligan City, is the current deputy chief of staff for personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Prior to that, Cuerpo was the commander of the Army 103rd Infantry Brigade in Marawi City where he spent five years hunting the remnants of the Dawlah Islamiyah terror group.
In March 2022, troops led by Cuerpo overran a Dawlah Islamiyah camp in Maguing, Lanao del Sur killing at least 40 rebels and seizing a sizable amount of war materiel.
Cuerpo also was the deputy commander of the 103rd Brigade during the five-month fighting between the government and the Maute-led Dawlah Islamiyah terror group that seized Marawi City.
He will assume command of an Army division whose achievements included the killing of National Democratic Front spokesperson Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos, and NDF consultant Pedro Codaste.
