AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar (Screengrab from Laging Handa briefing)
MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (AFPMP) will continue under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
"The President has made sure that the AFP Modernization Program will continue. Now that we are into Horizon 3 already, some procurement have already been processed and we expect the delivery of big items that will modernize and make the AFP more capable of performing its mission," AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said in a Laging Handa briefing on Thursday, when asked for updates about the military's modernization program.
Horizon 3 is slated from 2023 to 2028 while Horizon 1 started in 2013 to 2018 while Horizon 2 is from 2018 to 2022.
Earlier, the Department of National Defense said all major modernization contracts for the military signed by the previous administration and then Secretary Delfin Lorenzana will proceed.
These included the contracts for the two missile corvettes to be acquired from South Korea, the BrahMos missile system from India, 32 more S-70i "Black Hawk" combat utility helicopters from Poland, and another six offshore patrol vessels also from South Korea.
The funding for these contracts is already assured by the government.
Aguilar said efforts to convince the communist insurgents to peacefully rejoin mainstream society will continue under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
"Since the NTF will continue to function and all of its clusters, of course, we’ll be there to make sure that the issues being confronted by our people are resolved satisfactorily and…continue to implement the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program so that we can entice these rebels to surrender," he added. (PNA)
