Military, police cooperation to sustain peace and order, says AFP’s Aguilar

The cooperation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) will sustain peace and order in the country, AFP spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar said Wednesday.

Interviewed in the PTV public briefing, Aguilar said that all institutions should be united to attain peace and development. 

“Napakalaki po ng advantage sa ating bansa na lahat ng institusyon, actually hindi lang dapat ang AFP, kundi pati na ang buong sambayanan, kasama ang iba't-ibang ahensya ng gobyerno, non-government organizations para sama-sama natin tahakin ang kapayapaan at kaunlaran,” he said.

To achieve this, Aguilar said, they are continuing to implement community support programs in various barangays.

“Tuloy-tuloy po ang ginagawa namin pag-implement ng community support programs sa mga barangay na kung saan mayroon tayong nakikitang problema… ito po ay para mabigyan po ng tamang atensyon ng ating mga kababayan. Only this we can eliminate the root cause of these security problems,” he added.

Meanwhile, Aguilar said that the military is considering using ammunition for upskilling their personnel.

“Probably that’s an interactive way of optimizing the resources that we have so that we enhance the individual skills of our personnel,” the AFP official said.

He did not provide the number of wasted ammunition.

Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier bared that with the military geared toward non-lethal efforts such as civil-military operations, there has been a wastage in its supply of ammunition.

Aguilar also said that returning AFP chief General Andres Centino’s top directive for the military is to defeat communist insurgency and other terrorist groups.

Other directives include the optimizing the use of resources, advancement of professionalism in AFP, contributing to minimizing casualties during national calamities, and modernization programs.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said he sees the reappointment of Centino as AFP Chief of Staff as the permanent solution to the unrest within the military due to issues over rank.

Marcos also said he was rationalizing seniority in the military by appointing Centino, who has four stars, in replacement of his previous appointee Lieutenant General Bartolome Bacarro, who had three stars.

Meanwhile, Aguilar thanked the public for giving the AFP a high satisfaction rating for its performance with an “excellent +76” net score, based on a recent Social Weather Stations Survey.

“Kami ay nagpapasalamat sa kanila kasi talagang masasabi namin ngayon na tama ang aming tema na napili noong nakaraang selebrasyon noong December 2022, na ‘AFP at 87: Kaisa ng Sambayanan Tungo sa Mapayapa, Matatag, at Maunlad na Bansa,” he said.

“Pangalawa, ‘yung mga binabalita po namin na magagandang accomplishment through the different media outlets ay talagang nararamdaman ng mga tao kaya nagkakaroon kami ng magandang feedback saka magandang evaluation sa ating mamamayan,” he added. — BM, GMA Integrated News