CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City—The Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero called for the enhancement of regional border security with other neighbor countries in a bid to combat transnational crimes.
AFP Public Affairs Office Chief Marine Colonel Edgard Arevalo said that the newly installed AFP Chief, in his Command Guidance, wants to increase “coordinated patrols” with the military’s counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“The Command Guidance outlines the Chief of Staff’s courses of action and orders for the line units and offices to follow to ensure that the AFP remains on track on its short- and long-term goals,” Colonel Arevalo said.
For the active border cooperation, Lt. Gen. Guerrero hopes to enhance border security with Malaysia and Indonesia through the Trilateral Cooperation Arrangement inked in June 2017 aimed at stopping kidnapping, trafficking, and transit of terror personalities in the Sulu Sea.
“We will also increase the frequency of our coordinated patrols with our ASEAN counterparts in order to prevent the use of our common maritime borders for illegal activities,” Lt. Gen. Guerrero said.
Moreover, the AFP also banks on the national policy and defense agenda to develop a credible defense force with strengthened naval and air capabilities for more effective monitoring and control of sea lanes and air space.
“For this, we will reinforce our Maritime Domain awareness on our maritime areas of interest particularly our sea lanes of communications. We will also push through with our capability build-up in order to enhance our maritime operations capability,” Lt. Gen. Guerrero added.
Improvements in the international security engagements including the activation of the International Military Affairs Center are also being sought.
Moreover, the Chief of Staff also wants to shift the training methodology for the AFP’s peacekeeping units from “involving temporarily formed units to deploying existing units of the AFP.” (AFP-PAO-PR)
