President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed Eduardo Año as the new National Security Adviser (NSA), Malacañang announced on Saturday.

Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil confirmed Año’s appointment after the oath-taking at the Palace on Saturday.

“Former DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Eduardo Año took his oath before the President as the new National Security Adviser,” Garafil said.

The 61-year-old Año replaced Clarita Carlos who assumed the NSA post in June 2022.

Año, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983, is a veteran intelligence officer who also served as the chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (December 2016 to October 2017) under the Duterte administration.

Meantime, Carlos will “continue her pursuit of scholastic endeavors” by joining the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) of the House of Representatives, Garafil said.

The CPBRD provides the Lower House with technical service in the formulation of national economic, fiscal and social policies.

“I have realized that it is no longer politic to continue as NSA to the President and so, I have decided to migrate to another agency where my expertise on foreign, defense and security policy will be of use and I shall continue to help build a better Philippines,” Carlos said in a separate statement.

Carlos, a retired political science professor of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, served as the first female civilian president of the National Defense College of the Philippines.

She was also a consultant in Congress and other government agencies, including the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

She authored books and papers about political parties, elections, defense and security, and foreign policy, among others. (PNA)