Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), has called for consistency and commitment among the military leaders in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to achieve a sustainable security for all countries in Southeast Asia at a time when the world is threatened by a deadly and unconventional enemy -- the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Sobejana made the remark during the ASEAN Chief of Defense Forces Meeting (ACDFM) last Thursday, March 18, where he was represented virtually by Lt. Gen. Erickson Gloria, the AFP Vice Chief of Staff.
"To address challenges that hinders the achievement of sustainable security, we must be consistent in our agenda and must commit to fulfill and develop the initiatives of the previous chair. Also, we must be united on all aspects and must share the same goals of safeguarding common security interests and of keeping peace and stability in the region," Sobejana said in his speech.
Faced by multi-dimensional threats that range from terrorism to natural disasters and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Sobejana said that the military must be "agents of regional peace" who "support a more resilient development."
"Why peace and resilient development? Because not only do we support our respective defense strategy to address traditional threats but also enhance our service value by reinforcing the ability of the commitments we serve and the value chains we protect to withstand and recover from crises such as pandemics and natural disasters," he explained.
In the local setting, Sobejana said that the AFP has acted as a "force multiplier" in the government's efforts to curb the threat of COVID-19 pandemic, which has since claimed the lives of 12,900 Filipinos.
"We play a major role particularly in logistics support, military medicine, and support in the implementation of law and order," he said.
Since the start of the pandemic in March last year, the AFP has deployed personnel from the AFP Health Service Command to augment civilian medical frontliners in quarantine facilities all over the country.
The AFP also utilized its aircrafts, warships, and trucks to deliver medical equipment and vaccines to different areas nationwide.
Sobejana said that the government has also taken advantage of its existing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms for regional defense cooperation, including its coordination and cooperation within different regional frameworks.
Among these were the ASEAN Center on Military Medicine (ACMM); Network of ASEAN Chemical, Biological and Radiological Defense Experts (NACBRDE); and the extended role of ASEAN Military Readiness Group (AMRG) on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), which were utilized to cover emerging security issues and provide knowledge and experience to military leaders on crisis planning and emergency response.
"We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis, whatever its immediate strategic knock-on effects, or longer-term geopolitical implications. The amount of success in overcoming the situation lies on the kind of response given by every government and the intensity of cooperation being done domestically and internationally," the top Philippine military official said.
"We are optimistic that the Philippine government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will achieve good results by the end of the year with the arrival of the vaccines and the immediate implementation of its required mandate which is to immunize the Filipinos," Sobejana added.
The government kicked off its free inoculation program on March 1 as part of its target to inoculate more than 70 million Filipinos, or 70 percent of its total population of 110 million, to achieve a herd immunity before the end of 2021.
The ACDFM is a venue for all ASEAN Chiefs of Defense to discuss and assess all prominent issues and concerns of mutual interests. This year marks the 18th iteration of the meeting with the theme "We care, We Prepare, We Prosper."
This year's annual gathering was hosted by the Royal Brunei Armed Forces headed by Maj. Gen. Udara Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah Bin Haji Sahat.
Aside from Brunei and the Philippines, the top-level meeting was also attended by military leaders from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.