President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is expected to attend the 87th founding anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) next week.
The anniversary, slated on Dec. 21, will be highlighted by a parade of the troops and its modern assets and equipment including its trucks, missile systems, and aircraft at the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Monday, Dec. 19.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “AFP@87: Kaisa ng Buong Sambayanan Tungo sa Mapayapa, Matatag, at Maunlad na Pilipinas.”
“The AFP aims to showcase our transformation and advancement as a military organization through the display of these assets,” Col. Medel Aguilar, acting AFP spokesperson, said.
“There will be a parade on 19 and we have invited the President to be our guest of honor and speaker because he is our Commander in Chief,” he added.
In preparation for the event, rehearsals were undertaken by the AFP which included a series of fly-bys of air assets over Camp Aguinaldo and nearby areas.
“Movements of ground assets are also expected as they will be part of the static display and parade and review inside the camp,” Aguilar noted.
Aside from the parade, the AFP has also prepared humanitarian activities nationwide for their anniversary celebration such as bloodletting programs, tree-planting activities, free museum visits in camps, and open ship visits among others.
The AFP will also be awarding military personnel and civilian stakeholders for their exemplary contributions to the internal security operations of the military.
Army accomplishments
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army (PA) said it made strides this year in accomplishing its mandate as a professional, capable and responsive force provider to the AFP.
Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., PA commanding general, said the Army continues its modernization thrust as it moves forward in its long-term transformation roadmap.
He said the Army Transformation Roadmap started its third and final base camp wherein it aims to achieve the organization's full potential as a world-class land force by 2028.
This new vision is anchored on the PA’s organizational and capability development plans, the AFP modernization initiatives, and the Philippine Development Plan “Ambisyon Natin 2040.”
The PA is also continuously modernizing its defense assets and materiel under the second horizon of the revised AFP modernization program.
"For this year, the organization deployed game-changer assets such as 12 units of 155mm self-propelled howitzers; 15 units of M113A2 armored mortar carriers; two units of Vehicle Mounted Mine Detectors; two units of Armor Vehicle Launch Bridge, unmanned aerial systems, combat radios, and thermal imagers," Brawner said.
"These new assets will boost the capabilities of ground units as the Army shifts from internal security to territorial defense operations," he added.
Moreover, the PA also installed 234 very small aperture terminals (VSATs) in remote patrol bases to provide connectivity to troops and outlying communities.
To deal with emerging threats, the PA also activated new units such as the 10th Field Artillery Battalion (SP-155), Cyber Battalion, five installation management battalions, and three infantry battalions.
It also reactivated the 1st Tank Battalion which will serve as the mother unit of existing and upcoming tank assets of the PA.
In its fight against insurgency, terrorism, and lawlessness, the PA said that the troops engaged state enemies in four decisive encounters, 15 major encounters, and 96 minor encounters, resulting in the neutralization of 1,407 communist and local terrorists as well as the seizure of 1,484 enemy firearms from January to December 2022.
A total of 2,011 rebels have also surrendered this year.
“The Philippine Army honors the hard work, sacrifice, and selfless service of soldiers in fulfillment of their oath to serve the people and secure the land," Brawner said.