Aquino bids Army goodbye, cites changes under his watch

PRESIDENT Aquino, who dreamed of becoming a soldier but became disillusioned because of martial law, Tuesday took pride in the transformation of the Philippine Army under his administration as he bade the soldiers goodbye.

The President graced the Army’s 119th founding anniversary, his last as Commander in Chief, during which the Army showcased its newest acquisitions like the armored personnel carriers (APCs) that rumbled at the oval.

The event coincided with the first day of Mr. Aquino’s last 100 days as President and Commander in Chief.

“This is the Army and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) that I will be passing on as an outgoing Commander in Chief: an Army with  very high morale and ready for any challenges; an Army that has the recognition and respect of the people; a professional and principled Army,” Mr. Aquino said in his speech.

The President said that under the AFP modernization program, 68 big-ticket projects worth P58.43 billion were implemented. Of these, 26 projects worth P7.79 billion went to the Army to beef up its “capacity, knowledge, and readiness.”

Aside from these, Mr. Aquino said the soldiers could expect more assets in the coming days. But he declined to elaborate because of national security concerns.

In his lengthy speech, Mr. Aquino highlighted the intangible: That the Army had  regained the trust and confidence of the people they are sworn to defend and protect.

The President recalled that when he was very young, he dreamed of becoming a soldier but when martial law came, “my views about soldiers changed.”

Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III gives his speech during the 119th founding anniversary of the Philippine Army held at the Headquarters Philippine Army Grandstand, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

Mr. Aquino said the people’s trust in the Army was lost when it had “gone astray” as the executors of martial law, thinking they were being true to the Constitution in carrying out the orders of the dictator.”

“There became a wide divide between the people and the Army, the result of which was the number of the NPA (New People’s Army) ballooned from 60 to 25,000 armed members at the end of martial law,” Mr. Aquino said.

“Under our administration, we had more than 1.3 million operations against the enemies of the state and we finally freed 50 of 76 provinces affected by the NPA,” Mr. Aquino said.

For his part, Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año credited Aquino, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri “for the continued upgrade of capabilities and quality of service of the Philippine Army.”

Año listing down the army projects implemented so far, including the 56,840 new assault rifles to replace the “Vietnam war-era” rifles used by the soldiers; 124 new armored vehicles, and more than 2,000 new radios and other communication equipment.

Also in the pipeline, Año said are 18 Infantry fighting and fire-equipped vehicles, six 155-mm Howitzers, 333 light utility vehicles, 44 60-mm mortars, 2,200 grenade launchers and 60 50-watt radios.

But the “upgrade” that received applause was that Army officers, soldiers and personnel could withdraw from their ATMs the past three months’ differential under the increased provisional allowance granted in Mr. Aquino’s Executive Order No. 201. With a report by Jaymee T. Gamil