Teodoro asks reserve force to help protect Philippines land, maritime domain

CEBU, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Reserve Force to help protect the country’s maritime domain.

Teodoro made the call during the culmination of the 47th AFP National Reservist Week at Camp Aguinaldo on Saturday as he highlighted the Reserve Force’s role in addressing gaps in the AFP’s active duty force structure through “force and mission replication and support,” including “functional replication, and substitution, if necessary, of operating units.”

He asked the Reserve Force to pursue activities along the Pacific Ocean boundary and areas leading to the Pacific Ocean, particularly in coastal and island provinces, where the country faces vulnerabilities in its Eastern Seaboard.

“Our vulnerability is in the Eastern Seaboard. I would like the Reserve Commands to pursue activities on our Pacific Ocean boundary and or areas leading to the Pacific Ocean. That is a huge gap,” Teodoro said.

As a maritime and archipelagic country, he said the Philippines must control its territorial land domain, baseline areas from which its maritime entitlements are drawn, its Exclusive Economic Zone, and other areas under its jurisdiction, including its extended continental shelves.

He also emphasized the country’s responsibility to help secure supply chains and protect Filipino seafarers, whom he identified as the number one nationality victimized by piracy and other untoward activities due to world and ethnic conflicts elsewhere.

The defense chief underscored the vital role of the Reserve Force in strengthening the country’s defense capabilities, supporting communities, and contributing to national resilience.

He underscored the role of the Reserve Force in complementing the AFP’s active duty force structure and strengthening the military’s footprint across the country, while noting that effective operations require adequate infrastructure and other support.

“Any activity is unsustainable if there is inadequate support. So maybe that is a gap where our reservists can fill,” Teodoro said, stressing that defense modernization must be accompanied by the necessary infrastructure to sustain the country’s capabilities.

He identified three major threats confronting the country according to their imminence: natural calamities and disasters, internal and external security threats, and actual conflict. He called for a community-based, deployable critical-function replication to support disaster response, including fire response, first aid, and village wardens, while emphasizing that these should be non-combatant and purely voluntary.

For internal and external security threats, he emphasized deterrence as the country’s prime objective, requiring increased posture through infrastructure, capabilities, force size, and activities conducted singly, bilaterally, or multilaterally to demonstrate the ability to resist threats.

He emphasized the need for continued modernization, infrastructure build-up, enhancing community survivability, and internal hardening against malign foreign influence and disinformation, noting the reality of cognitive warfare and changing narratives.

Teodoro asked the reservists to extend their help and make some sacrifices to assist fellow Filipinos in need.

“Hinihikayat namin ang tulong po ninyo, at, konting sakripisyo na rin, para matulungan ang ating mga kapatid na nangangailangan,” he said. (CEBU NEWS)