By John Rey Saavedra – PNA
CEBU CITY — The chief of Army reservists in Central Visayas on Sunday said they should keep serving the country despite being volunteers without compensation and benefits.
Reservist Brig. Gen. Erik Miguel Espina, commander of the 1901st Infantry Brigade Ready Reserve, said the only volunteer army in the whole world is found in the Philippines.
“Under peace time condition, we have no salary, no allowance, no nothing, except that we are volunteer army for them,” Espina said during the assumption of command ceremony for the new battalion commander of Army reservists in Cebu province.
Espina was the guest of honor and speaker in the ceremony installing the new chief of the 701st Ready Reserve Battalion, Lt. Col. Antonio Esmero.
Esmero replaced Maj. Rudy Marcelo who held the position in the reservist battalion in acting capacity for five years.
According to him, aside from volunteerism, reservists must keep in mind the spirit of unity and service.
Being a leader of a reservist unit, Espina said, one must be willing to spend his own money.
“You have to allocate from your personal money. You must be able to contribute. You don’t have to spend for all (the needs of the reserve unit). But you must be the first to put your hand on your pocket,” he said.
The highest officer of all reservists in the Central Visayas region reminded those who attended the assumption ceremony to be reformative so they would always be “willing to embrace positive change.”
Espina, a graduate of Master in National Security Administration at the National Defense College, urged the new reserve battalion commander to always visit the sub-units which are geographically spread all throughout the province, as mandated under Republic Act 7077, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reservist Act of 1991.
“Each one of us must know that we’re in an unending relay (for) nation building. In every new relay or run, we are constantly passing the baton, Espina said. “The runner may change but the baton is always the same, the marathon always exists so long as the Republic of the Philippines exists, so long as the AFP is there to make sure that it (unit) continues to survive,” Espina said.
Esmero, on the other hand, said his assumption signals the union between the brigade and the battalion of reservists in supporting civic action programs of the entire AFP.
He added that reservists must wear their uniforms properly and with pride.
Esmero is a university professor and finished the General Staff Course (GSC) at the GSC College in Camp Aguinaldo, along with top officials of the Duterte administration like Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato, Senators Manny Pacquiao and Loren Legarda, former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and deputy speakers Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu and Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte.
According to Colonel Jerry Borja, chief of the 7th Regional Community Defense Group (7RCDG), Esmero is the first and only reservist officer who has been installed as battalion commander covered with an order from the Army Reserve Command (Arescom) under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Bernie Langub.
The reservists are engaged in medical and civic action program, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response aspect of the military. They are also tapped in environmental activities such as coastal and river cleanup, tree growing and mangrove planting.
