{"id":222371,"date":"2019-07-10T18:53:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T22:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=222371"},"modified":"2019-07-10T18:53:14","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T22:53:14","slug":"duterte-sees-dangerous-times-ahead-vows-to-modernize-afp-pnp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/10\/duterte-sees-dangerous-times-ahead-vows-to-modernize-afp-pnp\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte sees \u2018dangerous times ahead\u2019, vows to modernize AFP, PNP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the appreciation dinner for House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at The Manila Hotel on July 9, 2019. VALERIE ESCALERA\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted a stronger military and police force to prepare for \u201cdangerous times ahead\u201d in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

He urged Congress to pass measures that will provide the Armed Forces and the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) with more assets and equipment before the end of his term in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that Congress would tide us over to complete the instruments that we need in dealing, especially with terrorism,\u201d Duterte said in his speech during the appreciation dinner for former President and outgoing House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Manila Hotel on Tuesday (July 9) night.<\/p>\n

Although he was not belittling the capabilities of the next President, Duterte said he simply wanted a completed modernization program before he exits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that by the time I make my exit,\u00a0nandiyan na lahat \u2018yan<\/em>(it\u2019s all there) because I am not belittling the events to come or the person coming in to be the next president,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather that I leave with a strong military and police and equipped to challenge the enemies of the state, especially terrorism,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The chief executive warned of \u201cdangerous times ahead\u201d, especially in areas of Mindanao where there is a larger concentration of terrorist groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see very dangerous times ahead. And I hope that we will be able to contain whatever there is to really to\u2026\u00a0Lumalabas nga \u2018yung pawis sa kamay ko<\/em>\u00a0(My hands are sweating) just thinking about if it would go awry outside of Sulu and Basilan Islands,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

Duterte further stressed the need to continue acquiring more assets and equipment because of the threats that lie ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that I said, I must be prepared.\u00a0And nabili ko na ho \u2018yung mga kailangan<\/em>\u00a0(I have bought what is needed), but there are still a few things that I must have for my Armed Forces and the police,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd one of these days, I will call for a — just — for a time to talkatise and we\u2019ll talk about it because it\u2019s really needed by the country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Honest assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n

PNP spokesperson Col. Bernard Banac, for his part, described Duterte\u2019s remark as an \u201caccurate and honest assessment\u201d of trends in terrorism, transnational crime, and cross-border criminal activity.<\/p>\n

Noting that these problems required greater flexibility and capability of military and police forces, Banac thanked the national government for being \u201cresponsive\u201d to the situation.<\/p>\n

He stressed that since Duterte\u2019s assumption in 2016, the PNP has been provided with not just operational requirements but also morale and welfare services, which have improved living standards of uniformed personnel and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last three years, the PNP has been able to keep up with our modernization and development plan with the procurement of more and better equipment and recruitment of more personnel,\u201d Banac said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween now and three years hence, the PNP is in a better position to perform its law enforcement and public safety mandate thru enhanced operational capability,\u201d he added.\u00a0(With reports from Christopher Lloyd Caliwan\/PNA)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted a stronger military and police force to prepare for \u201cdangerous times ahead\u201d in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":222372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222373,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222371\/revisions\/222373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}