Armed Forces of the Philippines:review

As a sabahan,I am really interested with Filipino military,because of their claim to my beloved Fatherland,and because my mother is from the Philippines(she frequently told me about military raid in Zamboanga by Tora-Tora aircraft,which,after some research,is actually American T-28 Trojan turboprop trainer/COIN aircraft)

Overview

Armed Forces of the Philippines(Tagalog:Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas), ARF in short, is responsible to defend and maintain the sovereignty of Republic of the Philippines.It has 3 main branch,Army,Navy and Air Force,and also has other elements such as Marines,Coast Guard and Village Corps.

ARF has long played a significant,if not highly controversial,role in the country.With numerous attempted coup and bad human-right record,rooted deeply since Ferdinand Marcos era(although recently there are efforts to clean their image into a fully professional,neutral defence force).

Considered as the weakest armed forces between founding ASEAN countries,they are currently engaging in numerous conflicts and skirmishes with communist(New People Army) and secessionist(Moro National Liberation Front,Moro Islamic Liberation Front) insurgent forces

Army

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Army

Philippines Army(PA) has a rich traditions dated back to 16th century.But it's modern history only began when General Douglas MacArthur,under request of Filipino president Manuel L. Quezon, began to formally laid the foundation of modern Filipino army,These soldier have fought bravely against Japanese invasion until their defeat in 1945.

Still largely a counter-insurgency force.They have fought rebels from both sides(communist and secessionist). for decades.This would make them a battle-hardened soldier with many years of experience in COIN operation.

Currently their main strategic assets are limited to light armoured vehicles(composed of APC/IFV,and scorpion light tank) and field artillery,which is vital to provide protection and fire support to front line personnel against rebel forces.Budget restraint(and some other issues that will be discussed later) forced them to utilize old equipment dated as far back as WWII era,such as M3 Grease gun and M1 Carbine.

Navy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Navy

Philippines Navy(PN) is responsible to protect maritime territory and interest of the Philippines.Even from significant assistance from the US,PN is struggled to fulfill their task with old vessel and inadequate naval aviaton support(their ship of the line,the BKP Rajah Humabon,is actually a WWII escort destroyer.Without any modern electronic system/weaponry being retrofitted).

Their Marine Corps,however,are decently armed,mainly because frequent conflicts with rebel needed them to be adequately armed.They are one of the better armed amphibious force in this region.(with good landing craft and support ship)

Air Force

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Air_Force

Philippines Air Force(PAF) has suffered a significant reduce in capability,especially when their only true fighter,the F-5A Freedom Fighter,has been retired,which leaves them with no aerial superiority compared to their neighbor.(although it is not a priority right now,since their current main task is to provide ground attack/CAS to ground forces,and trasportation).

Currently their main assets are mainly composed of Aermacchi S-211 trainer/light attack aircraft,OV-10 ground attack aircraft.and Huey helos,lots of them Huey in service.

There have been the intention to acquire a replacement to those retired F-5,with either F-16MLU,upgraded second-hand F-5E,or a LIFT trainer(most possibly korean T-50),although no decision has been made.The plan is to acquire at least a squadron(12-18 aircraft) to protect the sky of the Philippines.

Other than tri-service branch,they also have other elements in ARF,such as the coast guard and village militias.

Current and beyond

With an exception to small arms and helicopter,ARF have been operating a large chunck of obsolete weapon system for years(from M3 Grease gun to BAR automatic gun to old USN,and then JMSDF destroyer).Current ARF capabilities have been hampered by severe budget cuts,particularly post-1997 economic crisis(which has severely hit Asia.Note that some of Asian countries have never recover from the crisis).However there are also a more appalling reason than that;widespread corruption,ineffective bureaucracy and (supposedly) communist element in Philippines politics.

There are effort to modernize their armed forces,through HORIZON programme.Under this programme,a step-by-step modernization is initiated,replacing old equipment with a better one(maybe not new,but definitely fare better that previous weapon they are replacing).However,with the pace of these upgrade,not to mention the setback mentioned earlier,a fully modernized,conventional,network centric armed force would not be realized for a decade to come.They are still a counter-insurgency force and until they are able to defeat their adversary,they would,and should remain as so.