Monday, September 15, 2008 Arroyo determined to implement AFP modernization program
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is doing all she can, including infusing as much funds as possible, to implement the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)'s Modernization Program, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.
Dureza said Arroyo, since assuming the presidency in 2001, has been pursuing and implementing programs aimed at helping the AFP from the soldiers' benefits and pay hikes to the modernization of their equipment and system.
He said benefits like housing assistance and new equipment like helicopters and armaments are only a few of the things that are being provided and delivered now, which have been lacking or very slow in implementation during previous administrations.
He said Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro is attending to this, especially the AFP Modernization Program.
Teodoro, however, said despite the doubling of the budget to P10 billion for the modernization program, it is not enough to make the AFP at par with its counterparts abroad.
Dureza said the President acknowledges that the AFP, which is always in the frontline of protecting the country and people, is the backbone of the country's defense system.
He said the delivery of these benefits and the modernization program may be slow but it is a "work in progress".
Former defense secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said the soldiers are to be pitied for the slow arrival of needed equipment, which could help them in their campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Dureza said the President is appreciative of the military and the police who have been effective in their law enforcement mandate even if they continue to pursue rouge MILF members led by commanders Ameril Umbra Kato alias Kato and Abdullah Makapaar alias Bravo.
He said the AFP and PNP, have been able to take control of towns previously occupied by the MILF, which has earned for them the trust and cooperation of the civilian communities affected by the MILF attacks and pursuit operation.
He said they are hoping that the support and cooperation would continue, especially after the reward money for the arrest of the MILF commanders had been raised by the government in a bid to hasten their neutralization.
"She is appreciative that our soldiers and police have an effective law enforcement campaign. The President is appreciative of the work of our soldiers and our policemen," he said.
Dureza said the pursuit operations, which are conducted "with great sensitivity" on the part of the AFP and police in deference to the observance of Ramadan, would continue.
Asked if it includes the stop of all air strikes and bombing, Dureza said the "revised operational guidelines that have been in place at the start of the Ramadan, in the first week of the month" remains in place.
"It says there that the soldiers and the police who are chasing Umbra Kato and the MILF lawless elements must exercise great sensitivity to the observance of the holy month of Ramadan. Of which was for example, no artillery, no air bombardment unless in extreme cases when they are necessary. Those guidelines remain the same. There has been no change," he said.
Mindanao stakeholders had called for a ceasefire after a reported military air strike in Maguindanao resulted in the death of six civilians. The military said the only way the civilians could be killed is if they were in the same boat as the MILF members who took a shot at the military, which prompted them to retaliate.
Dureza acknowledged the call of the Mindanao stakeholders as well as Malaysia and the United States, which felt that the government and the MILF should resume peace negotiations.
He said the government, however, has shifted from its policy of talking peace with armed or rebel groups to an authentic dialogue with the communities with the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) as the first item in the agenda.
"We are all the same in wanting to have sustainable peace. Maybe they're in a hurry and we can understand why. The road map now is very clear. We don't need to rush it. Let's remind our foreign partners that these negotiations with the MILF have been running for 12 years and we are just having a little setback because armed men took a hit at us. If they had not attacked our civilians and had their leaders shown that they have full control of their forces then we could have already moved forward," he said.
He added that the government respects the views of Malaysia and the US as well as the Mindanao stakeholders, adding that they may consider the immediate return to the peace table with the MILF if the safety of the civilians that have been threatened and attacked is guaranteed, and depending on the outcome of the consultations with the stakeholders.
"It will be hard for us to renegotiate because of what happened. We keep on negotiating, we had consensus points but they (MILF) have armed men whom they cannot control. We are working towards peace but not at the expense of our people, the safety of the civilians in the areas," he said.
He clarified that the government is not setting the DDR or the surrender of the rouge commanders as a prerequisite, as negotiations should have no preconditions.
"The right context of these negotiations is only in the context of disarmament, demobilization at reintegration...that would be the subject of our discussions just in case we will resume, and if there is an indication that the leadership of the MILF has taken full control over the organization. In the past, they have shown they have not. And second, the safety civilian communities are assured," he added.
Dureza said preparations for the formal conduct of the dialogues are underway with Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. leading the consultations. He said these are expected to start in Zamboanga del Norte on September 18.
Esperon, who arrived from Kuala Lumpur last Friday, said the government will not give up on peace even as fighting erupted anew in Central Mindanao between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MILF.
"The peace process will continue," said Esperon who personally delivered a letter from Arroyo addressed to Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi where she explained the Philippine government's reasons for not signing the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) and the different means being explored to address and sustain the peace situation and other related issues in Mindanao. (JMR/Sunnex)
