The Assistant Chief of the Unified Command for Civil Military Operations (CMO) of the Central Command (CentCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the Visayas has disclosed that recruitment of thousands of additional soldiers is now in the pipeline.
Col. Medel Aguilar, who represented CentCom commander Lt. Gen. Oscar Lactao in the launching Wednesday afternoon of the Support Our Troops in Marawi project in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, disclosed that this comes after President Rodrigo Duterte had announced he would be adding at least 20 battalions to beef up the current strength of the AFP.
“We will recruit more. It’s already in the pipeline and the budget is being prepared for that,” said Col. Aguilar.
However, it would take awhile, Aguilar said, as he explained that to add 20,000 soldiers would mean that each additional unit would have its own operating costs.
“Let’s leave that to the hierarchy”, Col. Aguilar said, as he reassured the people of Negros Oriental that despite the July 21 ambush in Guihulngan City where alleged Communist terrorists killed six policemen and a civilian, that the Army is ready at all times to respond.
“In the meantime, let us strengthen our capability here. We have capability to deploy forces but we also on rely on support of the people to help us fight the insurgency,” Aguilar stressed, noting that “we cannot see everything”.
Col. Aguilar also intimated that after the Guihulngan ambush, it is not only about deploying additional troops but that the military must also review their tactics and procedures, equipage and even the capability “to detect incidents like that”.
“We are looking at all aspects”, the Army officer said.
As to public clamor for the return of the 11th IB of the Philippine Army to Guihulngan, Col. Aguilar explained that they cannot make the decision and it is the hierarchy that decides what units are to be deployed and where.
The 11th IB was based at Barangay McKinley, Guihulngan for many years until it was pulled out last year to beef up troops in Mindanao. (Judy Flores Partlow)