THE incumbent No. 3 officer of the Armed Forces has been being groomed to take the top position of the Army upon the mandatory retirement next month of Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz.

“Initially, the incumbent TDCS [The Deputy Chief of Staff] is the strongest contender for the Army post,” said an officer who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the matter.

Contacted through his mobile phone, Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, Armed Forces TDCS, declined to react, saying he was “not aware” about plans by higher-ups to transfer him from General Headquarters to the Army.

Alcantara will reach his mandatory retirement on July 6, 2013.

In a press briefing, public affairs chief Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said the Board of Generals (BOG), indeed, has started to deliberate on a list of candidates for the top Army position.

“The selection process started on the level of the BOG. The Armed Forces leadership assures you that the process of selection will be fair and credible,” Burgos said.

The BOG is headed by the Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr.

Other members of the BOG are the vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu; the Air Force chief, Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena; the Navy flag officer in command, Vice Adm. Alexander Pama; Ortiz and Alcantara.

Mapagu and Rabena are members of Philippine Military Academy Class 1987, while the rest belong to PMA Class 1979.

Ortiz, who was once offered but rejected the Armed Forces chief of staff post, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 on November 13.

Another military insider intimated to the BusinessMirror that the Northern Luzon Command  chief, Maj. Gen. Jessie Dellosa, also a member of PMA Class ’79, was also considered by higher-ups for the Army position but the “idea was dropped for a much bigger responsibility for him.”

Like his classmate Ortiz, Dellosa, who was then commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry “Jungle Fighter” Division, begged off from the chief of staff position now held by Oban, who will retire in December.

Meanwhile, the deputy chief of the Armed Forces Central Command, Brig. Gen. Alejandro Estomo, is being eyed to replace the former 7th Infantry “Kaugnay” Division commander, Maj. Gen. Ireneo Espino, who has been named Armed Forces Inspector General, a three-star position.