By Francis Wakefield The Philippine Army (PA) held on Thursday its traditional New Year's Call at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Army spokesman Col. Louie Villanueva said the New Year’s call is one of the most cherished traditions being observed and held annually by the Army. He said Army personnel consists of HPA (Headquarters, Philippine Army) key staffs, including major unit commanders and sergeant majors, gathered at the Army Officers Clubhouse where it rendered a courtesy call on Army commanding general, Lt. Gen. Macairog S. Alberto. The call was followed by a command conference which was highlighted by a command briefing delivered by the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, G3, Col. Alex S. Rillera. During the briefing, significant accomplishments of the Philippine Army were narrated as well as important milestones that the command has achieved in relation to its role as force provider. Villanueva said notably, the Philippine Army has proven its worth by being an effective force provider for the Unified Commands which contributed immensely to the overall accomplishment of the AFP mission towards peace and development. He said while the Philippine Army continuously pursue its support and sustainment role, greater focus was also directed on initiating essential organizational improvement to wit: activation of 10 additional infantry battalions to support the intensified operations against communist terrorist and other threat groups, substantial increase in the overall readiness condition of combat units due to responsive and rationalized evaluation parameters initiated by the Command, increase in CAFGU active auxiliary (CAA) MBAI insurance and initiated the allocation of additional P7,000 financial assistance for each member of CAA for the months of November and December 2018, enhancement of Army’s systems and processes in managing its resources that led to another breakthrough in 2018 on governance and strategy management execution wherein the Command was globally recognized and inducted to the Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame. An open forum was also held wherein some important issues were tackled to improve further the systems and concept of support for the Philippine Army. In his remarks, Alberto expressed his utmost gratitude to everyone as part of the “Team Army”. He also laid down some of his priority thrusts geared to further strengthen the organization. This year’s priority thrusts include the enhancement of soldier’s warfighting competency through relevant trainings and pursue of a doctrine-based and territorial defense-oriented training, enhancement of CAA administration and institutionalization of a more efficient CAA management system, enhancement of logistics system, development of a capable and responsive reserve force and full operationalization of the newly activated 11th Infantry Division and 1st brigade combat team. “As a force provider, we have resolutely emphasized the importance of sustaining our efforts in strengthening our fundamentals by focusing on the Army’s primary thrusts across the different mission areas. We should assure our primary stakeholder that we are an Army in motion, always innovating and learning, leveraging our unique strengths and continually demonstrating our commitment in the fulfillment of our mandate," Alberto said. "For the Army, no task is too big or too hard. Carrying on with vigor the initiatives we have implemented gave credence to our vision of becoming a world-class Army that is a source of national pride. As such, we must endeavor to make the Philippine Army a more agile force to win all battles against all threats," he added. Alberto also said Filipinos are all yearning for peace for their family and community and they have high respect, trust, and confidence to the Army for their aspirations. "Together let us help sustain the peace and development agenda of the President for the benefit of our country and people," he said.