FORT BONIFACIO, Metro Manila – Army Real Estate Office (AREO), Philippine Army (PA) received its new chief during a Change of Chief Ceremony here today, May 12, 2021.
Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Rowen S. Tolentino led the turn over of AREO’s leadership from its outgoing chief Col. Florentino Mendez to incoming chief Col. Ulpiano Olarte.
Col. Olarte graduated from the Officer Candidate School (OCS) Class 1994. Prior to his post, he was the Deputy AREO and held key positions in various engineer units of the PA. He served as the Commanding Officer of the 525th and 500th Engineer Combat Battalion. He was also assigned as the Chief of Project Management Division in 2019 and Chief of Plans and Operations Division in the same year under the Office of the Chief Engineer, Armed Forces of the Philippines. He also took the Command and General Staff Course at the AFP Command and General Staff College; engineer Captains Career Course in Fort Leonard Wood Missouri, and Master in Public Management Major in Development Security in the Development Academy of the Philippines.
On the other hand, Col. Mendez, who graduated from the OCS Class 1991 is set to retire from his more than 31 years of service in the PA. As the then chief AREO, Col. Mendez pursued concrete outcomes in the successful titling of seven PA camps and military reservations. Ownership of the former Artillery Training Unit area along Lawton Avenue in Fort Bonifacio was also regained and the subdivision survey plan of informal settlers at Camp Abat in Manaoag, Pangasinan was cancelled.
Via video conference, the Acting Commanding General Lt. Ge. Jose C. Faustino Jr. delivered his message, “To everyone, let us live by the leadership principle of our honoree today and emulate the same professionalism he has towards making a difference as we all carry on with our purpose to serve the people and secure the land.”
“In so doing, I urge all of you to embody the organization’s core values of honor, patriotism, and duty as we march closer towards our goal of becoming a world- class Army that is a source of national pride,” he added.#