PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. led the Yearend Command Conference of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the year 2023, as confirmed by AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. in a media interview at Camp Aguinaldo on Monday.
“We just had our yearend 2023 command conference, and this command conference was attended by none other than the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, His Excellency President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Chief of Staff, AFP said.
According to Gen. Brawner, during the said command conference, president Marcos gave his directives for the year 2024.
These include a focus on combating local communist terrorist groups, continuous defense of Philippine sovereignty in contested territories, and responding to natural disasters.
“We need to deal with the communist terrorist groups, the local terrorist groups, the threats we are facing in the West Philippine Sea, and of course, those natural disasters. All of these threats pose challenges to our Armed Forces of the Philippines,” added Brawner.
The general explained that the president wants the AFP to explore new approaches to addressing security threats in the country.
“Our President mentioned that we think of new ways of dealing with innovative ways. That is why we really have to make sure to study all of these things very carefully so that we come up with the necessary solutions,” he added.
However, he clarified that the president only seeks innovations and does not see any flaws in the current methods and practices of the AFP.
“He didn’t say that there is something wrong with the current organization that we have. What he meant is that we have to reconfigure to address the threats,” Brawner added.
As the commander in chief of the AFP, Brawner assured that they are open to all directives from the president and will ensure that their plans, policies, and programs that align with the president’s orders.
“This is very welcomed. We welcome the guidance of the president because he is our Commander-in-Chief. We will follow the orders that he gave,” Brawner stated.
“Everything we will do, all our plans, even the policies and the programs that we’re going to do, will be aligned with the pronouncements,” he added.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Gen. Brawner introduced Col. Francel Padilla as the new spokesperson of the AFP, replacing Col. Medel Aguilar, who will remain as the Deputy Chief of the Civil Relations Group.
