Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A marine general and veteran of the Mindanao conflict is going to run the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Balutan will leave the service ahead of his scheduled retirement in October to start work on August 1. He will replace Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, a retired army general.

Aguirre said Balutan, who belongs to the 1983 class of the Philippine Military Academy, volunteered to retire early in order to accept President Rodrigo Duterte’s appointment as Director General of the BuCor.

Aguirre said he recommended the marine general for the job due to his track record of showing strong resolve and making quick and steadfast decisions.

In 2000, Balutan led Philippine Marines in the bloody conflict in Central Mindanao when government troops dislodged Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas from their strongholds.

Balutan testified in Senate investigations as a witness to alleged fraud during the 2004 presidential elections won by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

He was charged before a court martial for disobedience for attending the Senate probe without authorization from Malacanang. The case against him was dismissed after a two-year prescription period had lapsed.

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