Gatchalian wants budget hike for AFP reserve corps

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is eyeing a higher budget for the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserve Corps (AFPRF) in 2019 to improve the reserve corps’ training during natural calamities.

“I believe that we should maintain and develop the AFP Reserve Force to help our country respond to the disastrous effects of natural calamities caused by climate change. We need more boots on the ground,” Gatchalian said in a statement on Thursday.

The senator said the country’s reserve corps may offer aid in natural calamities, noting the recent onslaught of Typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut) in Northern Luzon last Sept.15.

Gatchalian lamented that the P14.1 million allocated for the AFPRF under the Department of National Defense (DND) budget is not enough for the training of more than 700,000 reserve corps.

“Hopefully, we can allocate a sizeable and respectable budget for our military reservists in 2019. P14 million is not sufficient to provide our reservists with adequate training and, I understand, that lots of our reservists spend their own money just to get trained,” the lawmaker said.

Data from DND showed there are 741,397 AFP reserve corps, of which are 93,062 in the Ready Reserve Force Unit; 20,451 are from the Affiliated Reserve Unit; and 628,424 belong to the Standby Reserve Unit which is mobilized for national emergency or war.

The Ready Reserve Force Unit and Affiliated Reserve Unit are also deployed for national emergencies and war but could also help in local emergencies such as calamities and threats to peace and order, among others. /je