ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PAF to celebrate 78th founding anniversary on July 1 with capability demo

PAF to celebrate 78th founding anniversary on July 1 with capability demo

Published Jun 25, 2025 04:18 pm
Two FA-50 fighter jets perform a high-speed opener pass during the 77th founding anniversary of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) at Basa Air Base in Pampanga on July 1, 2024. (File photo: PAF)
Two FA-50 fighter jets perform a high-speed opener pass during the 77th founding anniversary of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) at Basa Air Base in Pampanga on July 1, 2024. (File photo: PAF)
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) will commemorate its 78th founding anniversary on July 1, featuring a live capability demonstration which is expected to be attended by President Marcos Jr.
PAF Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Arthur Cordura said the theme for this year’s celebration is “Focus PAF @78: Advancing Air Power by Committing to Mission, Strengthening Capabilities, and Championing Core Values.”
“So our Air Force today is a transiting Air Force. We have an advocacy right now, which we call the ‘Focus Philippine Air Force.’ It’s not an acronym, it’s simply an adjective that describes what your Philippine Air Force is today. It was conceptualized in light of our transition from 50 years of internal security operations to a full shift toward territorial defense operations,” he said.
“We need to transition our mindset. We need to transition our capabilities. And we need to educate our stakeholders about what lies ahead for your Philippine Air Force,” he added.
PAF spokesperson Col. Ma Consuelo Castillo said the theme explains Cordura’s vision for the PAF to be “mission-oriented, capability-driven, and values-based.”
“In the past, we were heavily involved in internal security operations. While we still have some participation in that area, we are now focusing more on building our capability to protect not only our territorial waters and airspace, but also areas within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” she explained.
“This is what the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] now refers to as the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC), where we extend our operations beyond our territories and territorial waters, we must also protect our sovereign rights over our Exclusive Economic Zones,” she added.
Compared to last year’s anniversary celebration which included a grand parade of assets and personnel, this year’s commemoration will be “austere”.
“Our celebration this year is austere but very meaningful,” Castillo said.
The anniversary will be highlighted by a live capability demonstration at the PAF’s Air Defense Center in Villamor Air Base, Pasay City. The PAF invited Marcos to witness the demo which will showcase various air assets, radar systems, sensors, and other equipment.
As early as March, the PAF has been conducting various activities as part of its upcoming anniversary. It held mall exhibits in Isabela, Laguna, Tacloban, Zamboanga, and Butuan. There will also be similar shows in Metro Manila this month.
Medical and dental outreach programs were also staged in Botolan, Zambales to assist fishing communities affected by the tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
A youth leadership summit was also held across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, as well as a painting contest. The winning artworks will be showcased during the anniversary celebration next week.

Related Tags

PAF Air Force anniversary capability demonstration
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.