Arnis Master Elefante Promoted to P.A. Col. By James U. Sy Jr.

Col. Irving P. Elefante Jr., PA, AFP, Senior Master - Lapu-Lapu Viñas Arnis System (IPEJ photo). Lt. Col. Irving P. Elefante Jr., a Senior Master of the Lapu-Lapu Viñas Arnis System, was promoted last March 2022 to full pledged Colonel in the Philippine Army (PA) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Fort Andres Bonifacio, Taguig Metro, Manila, with the new assignment to the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) as Training Director. Elefante began his training in the Filipino Martial arts (FMA) under Founder/Great Grandmaster Jose “Joe” L. Viñas of the Lapu-Lapu Viñas Arnis Afecionados Association (LVAAA) in August 1980. Elefante was awarded his 7th Degree Senior Master rank in the Lapu-Lapu Viñas Arnis System by the son of the late Founder and the 1st Generation Inheritor of the system, Headmaster Wilson “Nonong” E. Viñas, on December 30, 2003. Elefante served in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Bacolod for 17 years before transferring to the PA, AFP and commissioned as Captain. He was later commissioned as Major and was assigned in the Marawi War in Mindanao as a part of the Marawi Warriors assigned to checkpoints. He was then promoted to Lt. Col. and assigned to GenSan. He served as a Battalion Hand to Hand Combat Master Instructor and had taught Lapu-Lapu Viñas Arnis empty handed disarming techniques against edge weapons during the Balikatan Exercises between Philippine and U.S. Forces in Davao.