FORT BONIFACIO, Taguig City – The new Chief of the Army's Operations Research Center, Philippine Army (ORC) takes post in a ceremony presided by the Army Chief of Staff here today, June 3, 2020.
Col. Harold M. Cabunoc officially took over as ORC chief, replacing Col. Samuel G. Yunque in a Change of Chief of Office ceremony with Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Rowen S. Tolentino as Presiding General Officer. The ORC is responsible for adopting a well-synchronized, responsive and ground-based Operations Research Management System for the Philippine Army.
Cabunoc served as Executive Officer of the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G9, prior to his new post. He also served as the Commanding Officer of the 33rd Infantry Battalion, 6th Infantry Division in 2017; as Battalion Executive Officer of the Civil-Military Operations Battalion, 9th Infantry Division in 2011; and was sent to the United Nations Mission in Sudan for various foreign military assignments in 2008. He was also designated as the Army Chief Public Affairs and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office Chief in 2011 and 2014 respectively. Cabunoc holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Master of Military and Defence Studies from Australian National University. He is a Scout Ranger and a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy “Bantay Laya” Class of 1994.
Yunque on the other hand served as ORC chief since January 2019. He also served as Commanding Officer of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion, First Scout Ranger Regiment at the height of the Battle of Marawi in 2017; as Commandant of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) Training School in 2014; and Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, PSG in 2013. He holds a Master’s Degree in Community Development from University of the Philippines Diliman and Master’s Degree in Public Management Major in Development Security from the Development of Academy of the Philippines.
Under Yunque’s stint, ORC was able to publish books namely “No Man Left Behind”, “Community Support Program: Best Practices in Eastern Mindanao”, “Untold Stories of 10IB”, “Brave Hearts Endure”, “Restoring a Fragile Peace”, “The Wars Within”, and “PA Lessons Learned Hand Book in Urban Operations” which currently guides the Army’s operations and capability development. Yunque is set to assume as the next commandant of the Scout Ranger School at First Scout Ranger Regiment in San Miguel, Bulacan.
In his remarks, Tolentino stressed the need for the ORC to continually document the story of the Philippine Army so that the organization is poised to benefit from the lessons and experiences of the past. “Just as we are looking in our past, we should also look into the future to keep up with the current trends in warfighting. Let us learn well, let us win our wars,” he said.#
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Operations Research Center, Philippine Army