PGMA's Speech during the 68th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

PGMA's Speech during the 68th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

AFP Grandstand, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City (19 Dec 2003)

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Secretary Ermita.

His Excellency President Fidel V. Ramos and the other former secretaries of Defense and Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces; Speaker de Venecia and the other legislators who are here with us today; General Abaya and the other officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; members of the Cabinet; members of the diplomatic corps; officers men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; ladies and gentlemen:

Troop Commander General Ragasa give Tikas Pahinga.

Isang pagbati sa inyong lahat, mga sundalo at mga sibilyang kawani ng Armed Forces of the Philippines at Department of National Defense sa kaarawan ng Sandatahang Lakas.

At espesyal na pagbabati ko dahil sa unang pagkakataon nakita ko kayo ngayon, bagamat meron tayong luncheon mamaya, ang ating mga nanalo, ang ating magaling na pangkat ng Pilipinas sa SouthEast Asian games sa pamumuno ni Colonel Tagibao at yung ibang mga nanalo nag-fourth place ang ating pangkat at pinakamaraming medalya sa kasaysayan ng Southeast Asian games na pumunta sa Pilipinas. Congratulations sa inyong lahat!

Ako'y nasisiyahan na nanalo si... Ay, di pala si..., Sorry. Si ano, si Private First Class Valda pala. Binabati ko siya at binabati ko rin si Lt. Col. Tagibao sa kanyang pag-tsampiyon ng tatlong beses naman sa powerlifting flyweight category sa weightlifting championship. Siya ay dating PSG pero ngayon nawala ko na siya, ha dito sa headquarters pero congratulations pa rin sa kanya.

Ako'y nagpapasalamat kay Secretary Ermita at saka kay General Abaya sa pagpili ng tema para sa 2003, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas: nagkakaisa tungo sa matatag na republika.

Pagkakaisa ang importanteng salita sa temang yon. Pagkakaisa -- the country has had enough of political bickering and partisan strife. Bitter memories of the past are hampering our goal to move forward. We cannot have change before genuine reconciliation with justice. I would like to spare this pagkakaisa from politics because this is a sincere and earnest effort to transform our divisions into unity and thereby see a clear path to a brighter future.

Ang ating kinabukasan ay liliwanag lamang kung magkaroon tayo ng pagkakaisa at kung baguhin natin ang ekonomiya. At mababago lamang natin ang ekonomiya sa pamamagitan ng mga kilangang puhunan at bahagi sa puhunang kailangan para sa ekonomiya ay ating seguridad. Kaya sa ngalan ng sambayanang Pilipino, gusto ko magpasalamat sa ating mga kawal sa inyong matapat na paglilingkod sa bansa para magkaroon tayo ng matatag na seguridad.

I would like to commend the Armed Forces once again for its professionalism in upholding the peace especially the peace in Mindanao. Despite recent losses in a recent isolated conflict in Mindanao, you have held your fire, you have allowed the ceasefire mechanism to work. I salute you for your disciplined adherence to the welfare of the people. Naalaala ko tuloy noong Mayo Uno 2001, kayo ay mga sundalo handang sumugod, bihasa sa pagsugod ngunit nung araw na yon sa Mendiola tinawag ko kayo para ipagtanggol ang republika at ginamit n'yo ang maximum tolerance kaya mapayapang natapos sa loob ng isang araw yung rebelyon na nangyari noon.

Ngayon, ginagamit pa rin ninyo yung inyong disiplina doon sa Mindanao.

I also commend the armed forces for your unstinting support for our renewed campaign against crime and terrorism. Espesyal na pagbati sa ating former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and former Secretary of National Defense, si Secretary Angelo Reyes, dahil buong mundo kinikilala ang kaniyang mga tagumpay kontra sa kidnapping at ibang krimen na importante at kailangan sugpuin.

Binabati ko siya at binabati ko lahat nung mga nagsugpo kay Commander Robot. Dito sa ating mga awards na pinamigay ngayon kasama dito ay si Lt. Ahmin Undug. Siya yung namuno nung grupo na nakasugpo kay Commander Robot. Congratulations sa lahat ng kaniyang pangkat.

Binabati ko rin si Col. Yapching at kaniyang mga kasama dahil sa kanilang suporta on the ground sa pagsugpo kay Commander Robot.

Congratulations, too to our soldiers for the arrest of the Jemaah Islamiyah leaders -- Yunos and Ji's number two man in Mindanao, Taufek Refke -- as well as the neutralization of Al-Ghozi. Your work together with the PNP headed by General Ebdane who is here has been truly a great example of inter-operational fusion that bodes well -- pagkakaisa ng AFP at PNP para sugpuin ang krimen at terorismo.

With your vigilant support to the policemen and the other law enforcement agencies, we have been able to cut down by half the crime rate in Metro Manila over the past two weeks. Let us keep our gains on by enabling broader military-police cooperation for law and order.

Hindi lang si Robot ang premyo na hinandog ninyo sa ating taong bayan. The slaying of the notorious KFR Leader Roberto Obeles Yap and his gang, and the capture of the number four, number five and number seven top kidnappers are just starters in your institutionalized operational fusion. In the meantime, the integrated track of vigilance and peace-building will continue until we have a just, lasting and comprehensive peace especially in Mindanao, but even here all over the country.

We have suspended offensive military operations against the NPA as a gesture of peace to give respite to our civilian communities affected by conflict. All of these -- the peace efforts in Mindanao, the SOMO in the NPA areas -- are reminders that we wage war to gain peace. And this is one of the messages that I have sought to convey to you when at that time that Secretary Reyes resigned from the Secretaryship of National Defense in order to take on the international leadership in our war against terrorism, I appointed Secretary Ermita, who has an impressive track record in peace, development and security management to the defense portfolio. I think the twin achievements of Secretary Ermita in the peace process and mainstreaming the peace process into the defense policy, combined with the spectacular successes of Secretary Reyes in fighting kidnapping and in the process arresting carnapping and bank robbery. This is truly a banner year for our defense and Armed Forces officials present and past, and I hope the future.

Spectacular is the word I used for your multi-department teams against kidnapping and against terrorism.

Our diplomatic achievements have given us the clout to enhance your logistical capabilities to gain the peace, to fight terrorism and yes, even to fight poverty.

Our support for the international war against terrorism has earned us tangible gains. This includes thousands of rifles, dozens of trucks, body armor vests, additional helicopters and planes, a big naval vessel. Still to come are additional body armor vests, fast patrol crafts, a whole squadron of helicopters, and special inflatable boats, assistance we have not seen since the end of the U.S. bases here in the Philippines.

The continuing Philippines-U.S. Balikatan exercises have also served us well, particularly in weapons use and tactical training and intelligence fusion. All of these fit in with what I instructed early in my term, when I ordered a total review of our military doctrine to render our operational, strategic and logistical capabilities better fitted for the 21st century especially by using doctrine from Philippine experience and especially to meet the new challenge of transnational crimes and terrorism in the 21st century.

In the past, more than two and a half years, we have pursued reforms, many of them enumerated by General Abaya, and I will not repeat them, to consolidate our armed forces, rationalize our resources and sharpen the will to fight. Oakwood was not necessary to remind us of those reforms because we have been doing those reforms from day one.

Therefore, my only mention of Oakwood today is to congratulate those who, like on may 1, finished the job in one day's time also finished the job in day's time on July 27. Several of the leaders and heroes of Oakwood were given awards today. We have Major General Emmanuel Teodosio who led the forces that would have exercised reasonable force had we not been able to end that crisis peacefully. And I'm happy to see General Roy Cimatu here so that I can have a chance to thank him once again for leading the negotiation, the successful negotiation. I would also like to congratulate Captain Jonathan Jovena for his distinguished conduct star not because of anything he did or didn't do in Oakwood but because he is a prime example, a credit to the Class of ô95.

I am your commander-in-chief but I am also a mother. And as commander-in-chief and mother, I care about our family in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. and that is why I care about you morale. I care about your comfort. I care about your health. I care about your ability to cope with the demands of life.

That is why military housing has been one of my priorities. A total of more than one billion pesos in housing packages have been made available to AFP personnel since I became president. We have started building houses for our soldiers on the NAMRIA property and another property in Fort Bonifacio. Development is also ongoing in Camp Riego de Dios in Tanza, Cavite; in Camp Claudio, Paranaque; in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

Several other areas also serve as prospective off-base housing projects for 60,000 AFP personnel in Fort San Felipe, Cavite City; naval station, San Miguel, Zambales; naval station, Margo sa Tubig, Zamboanga Del Sur; Fort Sto. Domingo, Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City; Camp Peralta, Jamindan, Capiz; Fort Del Pilar, Baguio City; Camp Downes, Ormoc City; and Camp Lukban in Samar.

By the way I mentioned Sangley. I mentioned that area and if we are talking about the heroes in Oakwood, I must also give credit to the heroes of Sangley headed by Commodore Sangley who prevented the raid on the armory of Sangley. Congratulations also to you.

And while we're at it, even as we congratulate Colonel Amin Undug for the capture of Robot, it's also good that we had the opportunity to congratulate General Tolentino for the capture... For the earlier capture of Robot's cohorts in the Sipadan kidnapping.

Moving forward, I have directed the Secretary of National Defense and the AFP Chief of Staff to look also not only at the housing needs of our soldiers but also your medical needs. For a start, I have instructed them to assign a medical doctor, a military medical doctor to the regional hospitals of the DOH that are located in or near areas of conflict, so that wounded soldiers can be attended to immediately.

At sana bilang ina ng Armed Forces, aking mga anak, sana hindi n'yo kalimutan, huwag nõyong kalilimutan na tinaas ko ang inyong suweldo.

Ako ay nagpapasalamat sa ating mga congressmen at senators dahil mabilis nilang pinasa yung batas para itaas ang inyong suweldo. And since several of them are here -- we have Congressman Solis, Congressman Biazon and Congresswoman San Juan -- I take this opportunity to urge congress to expedite the pending legislation to increase combat pay and subsistence and quarter's allowance for our soldiers.

I also take this opportunity to renew my instruction to the Chief of Staff and to the Secretary of National Defense to improve the AFP personnel management system, particularly in the area of redress of grievances and personnel information and records management.

All these is to ensure to our people that our soldiers are well-motivated and well taken care of, so that you can provide the security that our people need as an investment in the fight against poverty, as an investment in changing our economy. Let us make the changes in the AFP that are needed to make the changes in the economy.

Kayo, mga kawal ng Pilipinas bahagi kayo sa kinakailangan natin para sa magandang kinabukasan ng ating bansa, ng inyong mga anak. At sana sa mga darating na panahon pag tayo ay nagdidiriwang ng AFP Armed Forces Day masasabi natin na dumating na rin ang araw sa hindi matagal na panahon nandito na ang kapayapaan, nandito na ang pagsugpo ng kahirapan.

Maraming salamat at Happy Anniversary sa inyong lahat.

[HOME]