Military hurdled
The year 2017 was considered as a very challenging year for the defense department and military despite their gains in the modernization program for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Very challenging especially because of what happened in Marawi. It was a very challenging year because we were surprised with their (terrorist) build up in the city. We’re not able to prepare. We lost our skills in urban fighting but now we will bring it back,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told Daily Manila Shimbun in an interview during Rizal Day ceremonies in Manila Saturday.
It can be recalled that hundreds of police, military, terrorist and civilians were killed because the war in the city that lasted for around five months.
Col. Romeo Brawner, Task Force Ranao deputy commander, said based on their final record a total of 974 Maute terrorists, 47 civilians, and 166 soldiers and policemen were killed in Marawi.
Amid the tragic result of the armed conflict in Marawi, Lorenzana also noted that the war was also a blessing for the armed forces.
“It is also a blessing in disguise. We saw the inadequacies. We've seen a lot of shortfalls there, lack of equipment, like what they call as drones and everything from protection of body up to the eyes,” he said.
“So it’s actually a very good one although we still have challenges on New People’s Army, Abu Sayyaf but the biggest challenge (that we had faced) was the Marawi ( attack),” Lorenzana added.
Lorenzana emphasized that the strength of the enemies of the state, including the members of New People’s Army and the Abu Sayyaf Group were reduced but he admitted that the terrorist groups are continuously recruiting.
“They were slightly reduced because a lot of NPAs have surrendered. On ASG ( Abu Sayyaf), a lot of them a lot of them also surrendered,” he said.
“The ISIS-related ( groups)... are now slightly recruiting because they want to avenge, on NPA they continue to recruit, they never stop their recruitment,” Lorenzana added.
Based on the last data released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a total of 264 NPA members were either killed or apprehended by government forces while 573 have surrendered since the termination of peace talks. The data covered February 4 up to November.
As of November, the military also recorded a total of 47 NPA-initiated atrocities that include harassment, ambush and kidnapping.
The AFP had conducted 73 operations against the rebels and government troops were able to recover a total of 622 firearms from their operations.
Despite the challenges, DND Public Affairs Service Chief Arsenio Andolong noted that more than a dozen of projects under the AFP modernization program were completed within the year.
“Eleven projects were completed under RA 7898, while three projects were completed under RA 10349 or the Revised AFP Modernization Program,” he said.
“The projects completed under RA 7898 for the Philippine Army were the Force Protection Equipment, 155-mm Howitzer (with ammunition), 40-mm Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher Light (with ammunition) and M-113 Armored Vehicles acquisition projects,” he added.
Andolong noted that under the law four projects for the Philippine Navy and two for the AFP general headquarters were completed.
“These are the 7.62mm Sniper Rifle, LARSU Firepower Upgrade, Strategic Sealift Vessel and 155-mm Howitzer (with ammunition) acquisition projects,” he said.
“Meanwhile, two projects were also completed for the AFP General Headquarters, namely the First Forward MEDICS and the Force Protection Equipment for the AFP Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG),” he added.
Under the Revised AFP Modernization Program, Andolong said among the completed projects includes the P 1.116 billion Night Fighting System project for the Philippine Army and P 270 million Multi-Purpose Attack Craft project for the Philippine Navy.
“In addition, the remaining FA-50 Fighter Attack Aircraft/ LIFT of the Philippine Air Force were all delivered this year,” he said.
“The AFP also received the delivery of 90 units of sniper rifles, 3,000 units of M4 and six million rounds of ammunition from China on 28 June 2017,” he added.
Andolong noted that the newly-acquired “equipment are expected to improve the capability of the AFP in terms of internal security, territorial defense, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.”
Because of the additional equipment brought under the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Lorenzana expressed belief the coming year will be much "better" for the military and defense.
“Better because we have acquired a lot of equipment. We also have additional troops, so our prospect for 2018 is better. We just hope that there will be no huge disaster and we will be fine,” he said.
“We hope that we have a more peaceful year and we hope that we were able to fulfill all the needs of our personnel,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS
