MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) To boost efforts to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s 2010 deadline to defeat so-called enemies of the state, the military will recruit 600 Marines and fast track its modernization program, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Tuesday.
"I reiterate once again that we have a deadline to make the insurgency insignificant by 2010 and I will not accept any deviations from that schedule," Teodoro said in a speech during the Philippine Navy's 110th anniversary at its Manila headquarters on Tuesday.
"I will make sure and I will supervise strongly the Armed Forces. Let us cooperate with each other so that the schedule shall be followed," he added.
Arroyo has given security forces until the end of her term in 2010 to "defeat" the communist New People's Army (NPA), "destroy" the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), and "contain" the Moro rebellion.
Teodoro said the recruitment of the 600 Marines would be completed this year, along with the drafting of six Army infantry battalions and 1,200 militiamen under Army control.
"We really need more soldiers for greater presence in certain areas as a deterrent. Secondly, we need a large force to speed up the training of our battalions," Teodoro said.
Earlier, the military leadership started giving additional operational funds to field units who scored big against the NPA to improve its chances of meeting the 2010 deadline.
During the Navy anniversary rites, Teodoro saw off Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 10, which was sent to the island province of Basilan to replace MBLT 8, which will be pulled out for retraining.
Two patrol killer medium (PKM) gunboats were also sent to patrol the waters off Basilan, where troops are running after the leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and the JI.
"This mission can only be accomplished with proper resources and proper equipment, and it takes time. As a matter of fact we have plans for modernization," Teodoro said.
"No less than her Excellency the President, concerned with the preservation of security, not only in the seas, but of our marine environment, has sent a clear message to myself to try to study ways and means in order to fast track the modernization of the Philippine
Navy," he said.
Teodoro said he would meet with the chiefs of the Navy, Army, and Air Force to discuss how to "adjust" the military's modernization plan to accommodate the needs of the Navy.
The plans for the Army and the Air Force are "relatively fixed," but under a "multi-year obligational authority" from Congress, the defense chief said, he has been given "leverage" to frontload procurement for the Navy.
