AFP Northern Luzon Command

The Northern Luzon Command, known officially as the NoLCom, is one of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Wide Support Commands Combating Terrorism and Insurgency in Northern Luzon.

Mission
Conduct support operations to establish a condition wherein the well-being of the people of Northern and Central Luzon are protected and enhanced.

History
On 1 October 1972, the Northeast Command (NOREASCOM), Armed Forces of the Philippines, was organized and activated pursuant to General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Letter of Instruction 5/72, with an area of responsibility including:: Cagayan, Ifugao, Isabela, Kalinga-Apayao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Aurora.

On 14 November 1981, pursuant to General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines Letter of Instruction 2/81, the NOREASCOM AOR was expanded to include the Regional Command 1 (RECOM 1) AOR. The resulting command was redesignated Northern Command (NORTHCOM).

On 1 April 1984, General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines issued Letter of Instruction 1/84, which redesigated NORTHCOM as Regional Unified Command 2 (RUC 2). Its AOR consisted of all the provinces contained in the Philippine's Region 2.

On 1 April 87, General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines issued Letter of Instruction 3/87 creating a unified command spanning Regions 1 and 2. This unit was designated as Northen Luzon Command (NOLCOM). It was initially headquartered at Camp Melchor F Dela Cruz, Echague, Isabela. On 29 March 1988, NOLCOM was reorganized as an area command covering Northern and Central Luzon. Its headquarters was also transferred to Camp Aquino, Tarlac City.

1 April 2002, NOLCOM was deactivated and subsequently reactivated as a unified command pursuant to a Secretary of National Defence memo to the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, dated 12 April 2002.

On 15 January 2009, to further enhance and support its internal security operations campaign in Central and Northern Luzon, NOLCOM activated Joint Task Force Amihan, pursuant to Letter of Instruction 01-2009. The JTF would be headed by the Deputy Commander, NOLCOM with Task Groups under it composed of personnel from the joint services under the Command and complemented by local Philippine National Police personnel.

Lineage of Commanding Officers

 * BGen Bayani N Fabic AFP - (29 Mar 1988 – 10 Jul 1989)
 * BGen Orlando Q Antonio AFP - (10 Jul 1989 – 29 Mar 1990)
 * BGen Gumersindo T Yap AFP (29 Mar 1990 – 27 Dec 1990)
 * BGen Ernesto B Calupig AFP (27 Dec 1990 – 17 Jun 1992)
 * MGen Romulo F Yap AFP (17 Jun 1992 – 26 Aug 1993)
 * MGen Orlando V Soriano AFP (26 Aug 1993 – 16 Apr 1994)
 * MGen Edgardo T Batenga AFP (16 Apr 1994 – 7 Apr 1995)
 * MGen Oswaldo P Villanueva AFP (22 Jul 1995 – 9 Jan 1997)
 * MGen Ismael Z Villareal AFP (22 Jan 1997 – 1 Oct 1997)
 * MGen Rene S Dado AFP (1 Oct 1997 – 19 Feb 1999)
 * MGen Rolando C Bautista AFP (19 Feb 1999 – 30 Oct 1999)
 * MGen Arturo B Carrillo AFP (30 Oct 1999 – 28 Mar 2001)
 * LtGen Rodolfo C Garcia AFP (28 Mar 2001 – 5 Feb 2003)
 * LtGen Romeo B Dominguez AFP (5 Feb 2003 – 16 Aug 2005)
 * LtGen Romeo P Tolentino AFP (16 Aug 2005 – 21 Jul 2006)
 * LtGen Bonifacio B Ramos AFP (21 Jul 2006 – 16 Aug 2007)
 * LtGen Rodrigo F Maclang AFP (16 Aug 2007 – 6 May 2008)
 * MGen Isagani C Cachuela AFP (6 May 2008 – 16 Jun 2009)
 * LtGen Ricardo A David, Jr AFP (16 Jun 2009 – 2 Jul 2010)
 * LtGen Gaudencio S Pangilinan AFP (2 Jul 2010 – 22 Jul 2011)
 * LtGen Jessie Dellosa AFP (22 Jul 2011 – 12 Dec 2011)
 * (OIC) MGen Ricardo Banayat AFP (13 Dec 2011 – 20 Jan 2012)
 * LtGen Anthony J Alcantara AFP (21 Jan 2012 - Present)

Units
The following are the units that are under the Northern Luzon Command.
 * 5th Infantry (Star) Division, PA
 * 7th Infantry (Kaugnay) Division, PA
 * 1st Air Division, PAF
 * Naval Forces Northern Luzon, PN

Operations

 * Anti-guerrilla operations against the New People's Army
 * Anti-terrorist operations against known terror groups operating in their AOR.

Trivia

 * BGen Bayani N Fabic AFP is now serving as the Senate's Sergeant at Arms.
 * LGen Rodolfo Garcia became AFP Deputy Chief of Staff, and then later on became AFP Vice Chief of Staff.