Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City
17 November 2014
President Benigno S. Aquino III led the 75th founding anniversary of the Department of National Defense (DND), where he commemorated the rich history of the agency over the past 7 decades of its service to the Filipino nation.
In his speech, President Aquino complemented all the uniformed and non-uniformed personnel whose contributions supported the reforms by the agency not just for the people, but for the whole country as well. The President also lauded the department for its continuous mandate in uplifting the Philippine development.
“Hindi na po bago sa atin ang kabayanihang ipinapamalas niyo: mula sa kahandaan ninyong humarap sa peligro upang ipagtanggol ang mamamayan laban sa masasamang elemento, sa pagbabatay sa ating teritoryo, hanggang sa pagsaklolo at paghahatid serbisyo sa mga sinalanta ng kalamidad,” President Aquino said.
The President also gave updates on the ongoing AFP Modernization and Capability Update Program that started in 2010. According to the President, for the past 4 years, the government has allotted a total of 41.38 billion pesos, which is higher compared to the combined budget of the past three administrations. With one year and seven months left to his administration, President Aquino assured more projects will be completed for the armed forces like the DND Medium Term Capability Development Program, where 33 projects are expected to be completed by 2017, and the Philippine Defense Transformation Roadmap 2028 that will serve as the master plan to make sure that the initiatives are being followed.
“Sinisiguro po nating hindi mababalewala ang ating mga pinaghirapan. Sa komprehensibong planong ito, titiyaking nagtutugma ang roadmaps ng mga kaugnay na ahensya ng DND upang maabot ang ganap na transpormasyon ng ating tanggulan,” the Commander-in-Chief said.
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