AFP marks 87th anniversary

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday marked its 87th founding anniversary in a ceremony held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. attended the celebration for the first time as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He was joined by AFP Chief-of-Staff Bartolome Bacarro, Department of Defense officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr., Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos, and other government officials and foreign dignitaries.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. troops the line with Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Lieutenant General Bartolome Bacarro during the AFP's 87th anniversary held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Monday, December 19, 2022. Photo courtesy: PNA-Malacanang

Marcos also led the conferment of awards on military officers, civilians, and organizations who had great contributions to the AFP.

During his speech, Bacarro vowed to sustain the government’s gains in the country’s internal and external security including decreasing the communists' terrorist groups’ capability and the modernization of the AFP assets.

“International security operations are of prime importance to ensure the safety and security of our citizens against spoilers of peace and lawless elements,” said Bacarro.

“On this front, we can confidently state that we have achieved strategic victory and it is inching closer towards victory against terrorism. Our localized peace-building efforts with a multi-stakeholder and whole-of-nation approach also yielded positive results that encouraged enemies of the state to return to the fold of the law and build goodwill with communities,” he said.

Bacarro also said the AFP has strengthened its external ties with the Philippines’ partner countries in the ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific Region, and other nations.

“We also conducted training, military exchanges, and joint combined exercises. These opportunities allowed us to learn from our international counterparts, have our voice heard on the global stage, and conduct defense diplomacy purposely and rationally,” he said.

Further, the military official thanked the President and Vice President Sara Duterte for their trust and support, saying they can count “on the same zeal and commitment from the AFP in ensuring the safety, the integrity and the security” in the country.

“Soon, we will unveil a new campaign plan, a plan that will assist in setting the stage for the attainment of genuine unity, synergy, and peace for our country. As we look forward to the dawn of the new year, rest assured that we will remain hard at work operationally and strategically in sustaining our gains made these years,” he said.

“We all witnessed the AFP accomplish an inordinate amount of good work, thus this has been an uncommonly good year for the AFP,” he added. — BM, GMA Integrated News