President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. disembarks from one of the two Israeli-made fast attack interdiction craft (FAIC) platforms during the ships’ formal commissioning at the Philippine Navy (PN) headquarters in Naval Station Jose Andrada, Roxas Boulevard, Manila on May 26. 2023. (PNA)
MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) hoped President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. would mention efforts to bolster national security and defense efforts in his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday.
“We are anticipating that he will give updates on ongoing initiatives on our current national priorities, and it is reasonable to anticipate many key themes, and we are anticipating that it includes efforts to bolster national security and enhance defense capabilities,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said in the vernacular in a radio interview Sunday.
Padilla, however, acknowledged the President’s support of the military’s efforts.
She added that the AFP also expects the President to mention progress made in the ongoing military modernization program and the military’s shift towards territorial defense operations.
Padilla also clarified that this shift was to foil a possible invasion and focus on challenges inside the country.
She was referring to the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which calls for the AFP to defend the country’s vast territories from all threats.