MGEN FACUNDO OLORES PALAFOX IV PA is currently the Division Commander, Armor Division, Philippine Army. He was born in Dagupan City on May 2, 1968, and grew up in Baguio City where he studied elementary and high school. He later took up BS Math-Physics in at the University of the Philippines College of Baguio.
He then entered the Philippine Military Academy in 1986 and graduated as a member of PMA Bigkis-Lahi Class of 1990; He has since been assigned to various key positions in different units of both the Philippine Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well.
MGEN PALAFOX IV spent his formative years as an Infantry Officer with the 22nd Infantry (Valor) Battalion under the 2nd Infantry Division in the Bicol region as a platoon leader, Company Commander, and Battalion Staff officer. In 1995, he joined Light Armor Brigade (LABde), PA and was designated as Company Commander, 22nd Light Armor Company, 2nd Light Armor Battalion, LABde. Later after his stint as Company Commander, he was designated as the Deputy Chief for Civil-Military Operations, G7, LABde, PA. And, from then on, he continued to hold several office positions at the Headquarters Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Army as a renowned CMO Officer.
MGEN PALAFOX IV also served as Senior Aide-de-Camp to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella of the 13th Congress in August 2000. He then continued to perform special Detailed Service outside of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Press Secretary and Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs, and former Secretary Hernani Braganza until May 2004.
Returning from special Detailed Service, he was later on designated as Chief, Psychological Operations Division, and concurrently held the position of Chief, Administrative Division of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for CMO, J7 at the General Headquarters, AFP. He was instrumental, along with other Officers of OJ7, in the establishment of the AFP National Development Support Command (NADESCOM) in September 2007, the development arm of the Armed Forces. He then served as the Operations Officer of NADESCOM and assisted in the supervision and implementation of P2.4B worth of infrastructure projects under the Kalayaan Barangays Program to alleviate the lives of the people in conflict-affected, as well as, depressed communities all over the Philippines.
He was later on designated as Commandant of The Armor School before taking his post as the Commander of the 2nd Cavalry (Masigasig) Squadron, Mechanized Infantry Division, Philippine Army after his Command and General Staff Course. He then served as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations, G7 at the Headquarters, Philippine Army in February 2017. And in December 2018, he took the helm of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Phil Army, before he took over the 2nd Mechanized Infantry (Magbalantay) Brigade, Armor Div in August 2019.
He was also appointed as a member of the 3-man Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) for the Government of the Philippines Monitoring Committee (GPH-MC) overseeing the application of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) under the peace process with the NDF panel from 2012 to 2017.
In the course of his practice of CMO, he co-authored the writing of the Philippine Army Public Affairs Manual (2002) and the AFP CMO Doctrine (2005).
He is a graduate of the Local Basic and Advance Armor Courses; and specialized in Civil-Military Operations (CMO). MGEN PALAFOX IV is likewise a graduate of the Joint Tactical Civil-Military Cooperation Course (CIMIC) in Brisbane, Australia. He graduated #2 and was an Honor Student of Class-56 of the Command and General Staff Course earning for himself the Commandant AFPCGSC, Honor Graduate, and Leadership Awards. While taking up his GSC, he also studied for his Master’s Degree in Public Management major in Development and Security with the Graduate School for Public Management of the Development Academy of the Philippines where he earned three (3) Gold Medals for graduating number 1, with the Highest Point Grade Average; Best Action Plan and Program; and the Leadership Award.
He attended the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program Seminars on Civil-Military Approaches to Maritime Security and Civil-Military Response to Terrorism at the Center for Civil-Military Relations, Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey, California in May 2016.
He received various military awards for his contributions to the Service including three (3) Distinguished Service Stars, (2) Distinguished Service Medals, a Meritorious Achievement Medal, (2) Silver Cross Medals, Gawad sa Kaunlaran, Gawad sa Kapayapaan Medal and Ribbon, Chief of Staff AFP Commendation Medal and Ribbon, (29) Military Meritorious Medals and numerous Military Commendation Medals. Moreover, he is also a distinguished recipient of the coveted University of the Philippines' Centennial Award for Public Safety and Administration in 2008.
He is married to Anna Lissa Velarde Adriano and a proud father to three children - Angela Grace, Louis Andre, and Anna Frances.
