New Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner said he will do his best to achieve the target of President Rodrigo Duterte to end the local communist armed conflict by the end of his term in 2022.

"The CGPA (Commanding General of the Philippine Army) is a force provider, so what I can do is to capacitate the soldiers so that we can finish the task that was given to us by the president, because President Duterte said by the end of his term, there should be no communist, the local communist armed conflict. That is why we have National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC)," Army's 4th Infantry Division Commander and incoming Army chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said.

"So we will do our best to do this. We will try our best with a highly competent, highly skilled, highly professional Philippine Army soldier," he added.

Brawner said as the new army chief he will also prioritize the "health, welfare and morale of the troops and their families."

"Our troops are the most important resource of the Philippine Army, and then off course we will focus in our job in our core competency which is war fighting, so we will develop the capability of army soldiers and the army as an organization, because of the NTF ELCAC our partners are now on board," he said.

"Before our soldiers works as teachers, doctors in far flung areas but now because of the NTF ELCAC the basic service are reaching these areas and then the soldiers can focus on his core competency which is warfighting, so our capability development will revolve there, so that we are also ready not just for, internal operations but also external defense, we are also preparing, we are looking forward," he added. Robina Asido/DMS