MANILA -- President
Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, October 5, reminded the members of the Philippine
Army to remain loyal to the Constitution and to the people as he led the
Philippine Army’s 58th change of command ceremony at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
City.
“Maintain your loyalty to
the Constitution and to the flag. Do not nurture a personal or a person diyan,”
the President said in his address before the troops.
“Kaming lahat diyan sa
gobyerno, dumadaan lang. But it behooves upon you, I said, to see to it that
this country will grow, prosper until the end of time,” he said.
The President also said he
wants to leave the presidency with a strong army and police that can respond to
simultaneous attacks. But to achieve that goal, the Armed Forces and the Philippine
National Police must upgrade their equipment and capability to cope with the
present challenges, especially in fighting terrorism, he said.
One of the President’s
suggestions is for the Armed Forces to use its properties and forge join
ventures with the private sector. The AFP could enter into long-term lease
agreements to fund its modernization program.
“I’ll give you this place.
Lahat ito with a one sole condition. ‘Yung lahat kikitain ninyo diretso sa
inyo. At gawain ninyo ang gusto ninyong gawin to modernize. Pera ‘yan. Malaking
pera ‘yan. Just start to lease here --- trillion ito. But I would need the
money in the coming years also to meet your expenses,” Duterte said.
“Buy all the equipment you
need to meet the challenges way, way ahead,” he said. He also said that
soldiers and policemen will also receive a higher pay by January next year.
The President meanwhile
praised the country’s soldiers after a recent survey showed that the Philippine
Army got an impressive +75 net trust rating in the first semester of 2017.
“It’s a testament of the
troops’ commitment to protect the people and defend the democratic rights,”
Duterte said.
Duterte also commended the
AFP and the PNP for their efforts to quell rebellion in Marawi City.
“As an experience from the
Middle East, it takes a lot, about half a year or three months. And I am not
surprised and you should not be surprised that it has taken this long really to
move inch for inch. Because of the prepositioned maneuvers by the enemies and
the fact that you have to breach semento pati bakal. And that takes a lot of
hard work,” he said.
“Maswerte tayo dito, in a
very short time and I would credit it to the Armed Forces of the Philippines
and the toil of the Philippine National Police. Hindi ho madali ‘yung trabaho
na ‘yan,” he added.
The President also
mentioned the ongoing campaign against communist insurgents. “We are fighting
the New People’s Army. At this stage, I am not ready to talk to them because it
is not good for the country. Eh kung para lang sa bayan, okay ‘yan. But the way
that it is now, ayaw ko. And maybe it would take some time to… maybe another
President to do it,” he said.
President Duterte
meanwhile said outgoing Army chief Lt. Gen. Glorioso Miranda will join the
board of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). Major General
Rolando Bautista, former head of the Presidential Security Group (PSG),
succeeded Miranda as Army chief. (PND)
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Philippines The Philippine News Agency is a web-based newswire service of the
Philippine government under the supervision of the News and Information Bureau
(NIB) of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
