The military’s primary anti-coup unit National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) will be downgraded to a joint task force upon the retirement of its incumbent chief Maj. Gen. Tristan Kison next week.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Jessie Dellosa, in a chance interview last Monday afternoon, said the decision to deactivate NCRCom and the creation of a joint task force is already final.
“Not actually abolition but it is downgrading,”  Dellosa said.
“That’s final. Actually, we are discussing now the structure once the NCRCom is downgraded from two or three-star general to only one-star general. So, meaning to say the headquarters would be smaller,”  Dellosa added.
Dellosa said the downgrading of the NCRCom will take effect upon the retirement of Kison on July 12 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56.
The AFP chief said the new joint task force to take the role of NCRCom would be a brigade-size unit.
An Army infantry brigade is composed normally of three battalions or more or less 1,500 soldiers.
“It will be a joint task force,” Dellosa said.
The NCRCom is considered as the primary anti-coup unit of the AFP, having jurisdiction over Metro Manila where the seat of government is.
Earlier, Dellosa had said  the same role will be performed by the new joint task force.
The downgrading of the NCRCom is part of the Defense Planning Guidance of the Department of National Defense aimed at having a “lean but mean” AFP.
Only last May, the National Development Support Command was also deactivated upon the retirement of its commander, Maj. Gen. Carlos Holganza.