Aquino command conference with military set Monday

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will have his first command conference and command briefing at the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ General Headquarters on Monday, a military spokesman confirmed Friday.

In a telephone interview with reporters, Brigadier General Jose Mabanta, AFP spokesman, said that top-brass officials from the major service commanders, deputy chiefs of staff and the top three officials of the AFP would conduct the briefing for Aquino.

The meeting on Monday is expected to start at around 9:30 a.m. and is expected to last until noon the same day.

“He [Aquino] will be updated on the present status of the armed forces of the Philippines, its programs with the emphasis on its plans for modernization and to come up with a campaign plan that is attuned with his wishes,” Mabanta said.

He added that among the issues that would be discussed would be the creation of a new program that would replace Oplan Bantay Laya 2, the military program which leftist groups claim is the government’s way to purge militant group members.
“We will be informing the president that we will be crafting new plans and timelines to coincide with the, of course into present, a new dispensation,” Mabanta said.

“We will still be crafting a new campaign plan, together with, in line with this is, in the forefront is HR or human rights as a priority,” he added.

Mabanta said that only generalities were discussed during talks with Aquino during the formal change of command ceremony last week.

“This time we envision that we will go down to the specifics and particular so we anticipate that the president will be coming up with additional policies and instructions for the conduct of ISO, internal security [operations], external security and the conduct of other activities, other than the usual, other than war,” Mabanta said.

He reiterated AFP chief Major General Ricado David Jr.’s pronouncement that the military would defeat communist insurgency nationwide within two to three years but clarified that the timeline was still subject to the approval of Aquino.

“This is the AFP’s self-imposed timeline, we see that we will be able to attain objectives in two to three years but all of these is only recommendatory of course to the president but we see at our level that this is doable, the two to three years timeline,” Mabanta said.

“Of course, all of these are for recommendation for the eventual approval of the President,” he added.

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