PGMA's Speech during the 71st Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

Tejeros Hall, AFP Commissioned Officers' Country, Camp Aguinaldo, QC, 21 Dec 2006
Thank you very much, General Esperon.

President Ramos -- former president, former Commander-in-Chief and former AFP Chief of Staff -- and other former AFP chiefs of staff; the board of generals and other officers and soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and their ladies; defense officials; police officials; other government officials; members of the defense diplomatic corps; awardees who are so well-deserving; ladies and gentlemen.

Una sa lahat, binabati ko ang buong AFP sa pagdaraos ngayon ng isang simple ngunit makabuluhang anibersaryo. Ito ay patunay lamang na ang afp ay nakikinig sa pangangailangan ng sambayanang Pilipino at nakalaang magsakripisyo para sa mga kababayan nating nangangailangan.

I remember this tradition started in late 2004, when our eastern provinces, the Reina area -- Real, Infanta, Nakar, especially -- were hard hit by a series of typhoons. I clearly recall then that while the armed forces was already making its presence felt in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations, we went the extra mile by forging the usual large anniversary celebration and allocating our available resources for disaster relief. Thank you for such heroism.

At ngayon muli, tulad ng dati, ang AFP ay muling pumagitna sa pagtulong sa mga biktima ng sunod-sunod na kalamidad na binasa at binanggit ni General Esperon mula sa umpisa ng taon hanggang sa katapusan ng taon.

Indeed, you have shown that the uniform is not only a symbol of vigilance but a symbol of caring and sharing in a world of calamity and strife. You have kept all threat groups at bay, you have contained the tide of terrorism.

You have pushed back vested interests, you have upheld military justice, you have maintained command discipline and rallied around the flag.

We heard the details of the report of your accomplishment, not only this year or in the last five years from General Esperon, and I thank you all for the successes that you have gained in all the fields in which you have been involved.

This year also marks a unique celebration because the President of the Philippines also happens to be the Acting Secretary of National Defense. I felt it was best for me to remain at the Department of National Defense for at least 60 days, to restate the vision for the AFP and to put it in motion before handing the DND over to a permanent secretary.

We especially want to harness the younger generation of AFP officers represented by the young officers who received their awards today by sharing with them a vision and the hardware to achieve it. We want to inspire our officers in the field by vision and hardware rather than by patronage.

The path that I am undertaking as acting secretary of national defense is the following:

First, working with the AFP chief of staff and the major service chiefs, we have defined, as General Esperon said, each services medium-term mission. A mission that I trust will inspire the service. General Esperon has already mentioned that mission in terms of his description of Bantay Laya II.

Each major service shall organize, train, equip, deploy and sustain its forces to achieve a strategic defeat of the communist terrorist movement by 2010; to destroy the Abu Sayaff and other terrorist groups; and to contain the secessionist groups in order to establish a physically and psychologically secure environment conducive to national development.

After we worked in a session to restate this mission, we have now been working with the AFP chief of staff and the operations, logistics and planning staff, now tweaking the material procurement process to align it to the procurement modernization law and also to the mission and to generate quick impact.

I am preparing the revised implementing guidelines, rules and procedures for the AFP modernization law to put it in line with the procurement modernization law. And after I have signed and issued these amended guidelines, we will jump start the process, being careful to be transparent, and overtly discouraging the involvement of brokers and middlemen.

Transparency is crucial. Thus, we will follow what the procurement modernization law says that we should have at least two observers. So we shall have at least two observers, two from the business... One from the business community, one from the NGO community, and then also by members of the National Security Council of which the DND is a member.

In fact, in observing the procurement process, the NSC as observer shall be assisted by a task force of respected personalities most of whom you are familiar with: Admiral Mateo Mayuga, who has just retired, who has just been appointed as Presidential Assistant and seconded to the DND as undersecretary for this purpose. Also, General Pedro Cabuay, now retired to represent the National Security Council. And Undersecretary Roberto Tan of the Department of Finance because we have many procurements that are to be done government-to-government.

Itong repormang ito, ito ang tinatawag nating Philippine Defense Reforms. And the procurement of hardware to make it more expeditious but also transparent is the backbone of the defense reform. Itong defense reform na ito ay kasing importante sa mga economic reforms na ginawa natin tungkol sa mga buwis na tumutulong ngayon sa ekonomiya.

Going back to the restated mission, we are doing all that we are doing because we want to have an environment conducive to national development. And indeed, you have been doing much in order to provide that environment.

Nang dahil sa inyong pangangalaga sa kapayapaan, matagumpay nating naitupad ang mga reporma sa pananalapi na naging dahilan ng pagiging masigla ng ating ekonomiya.

The growth of our economy is a clear manifestation of national resiliency. Our rebound despite the four storms that hit the country in the last quarter shows the stability of our drivers in propelling the economy forward. Growth will surely be boosted by the heavy upload of consumer spending as we end the year.

Punong-puno yung ating mga malls ngayon sa Christmas shopping. Sabi ng mga tindahan, ang daming bumibili sa kanila. At yung mga OFWs, mas marami pang pinapadala sa ating ngayon kaysa sa mga nakaraang taon. At ang dami nilang dumadating magbakasyon. That is our new middle class. That is the source of our consumer spending. That is one of the major drivers of our economy.

And if we are enjoying now a strong peso, reduced interest rates, mild inflation, a sustainable growth rate, we only have the Filipino people to thank for their hard work and perseverance inspite of the tragedies, as well as the political noise, that plagued the country in the last three months. There is no other way but up for the Philippines. We shall continue to implement programs that would propel growth and its social payback of jobs, food, health, education firmly felt at the grassroots.

And as we proceed to work on that social payback, the armed forces will be, as you have been right there at the center of it all -- heroes serving the country and serving the people.

Mabuhay kayong lahat! And Happy 71st Anniversary to the Armed Forces of the Philippines!

Thank you.

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