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The Armed Forces of the Philippines is eyeing to recruit 10,000 soldiers to address security threats.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the planned recruitment.
“Last year, the President approved the request. So ngayon pa lang ipapatupad ‘yun (Now we can implement it). It will take time to train people, so maybe in the next 12 months we are hoping to recruit, equip, train. Siguro magagamit natin ‘yung bagong tropa siguro 2018 na (We will probably have new troops by 2018),” he said.
AFP public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said that the request for additional troops had long been sought but it was approved only recently.
The military currently has an estimated 135,000 soldiers, with about 80,000 of them in the Army.
“’Yung meron tayo ngayon, hindi sapat sa ating kasalukuyang requirements kaya kailangan talaga ng dagdag (Right now, we don’t have what’s sufficient to our current requirements, that’s why we really need to add),” he told reporters.
He says there is a need to recruit more soldiers and officers because of increasing security threats.
“Nadaragdagan ang mga threats to national security pero hindi nadadagdan ‘yung strength ng armed forces at capability (Threats to national security are increasing but the strength of the armed forces and its capability isn’t growing),” he said.
The military is currently focusing on terrorist groups like the Abu Sayyaf, Maute Group, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and others.
The military has toned down its pursuit of the New People’s Army because of the ongoing peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front. JE/rga