Two more ways to serve your country

A few months ago, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary, Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., was the keynote speaker during a Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) general membership meeting. He updated MAP on the projects the Department of National Defense is undertaking. He emphasized the massive needs of the country with respect to securing not only the land base of the Philippines but its exclusive economic zone and other areas where the Philippines has jurisdiction. The modernization of equipment provided the compelling argument that this is not meant to make the country the aggressor but merely become a self-reliant force in the Southeast Asian region.
Secretary Teodoro further said that other countries issued War Bonds which Secretary Teodoro even called AFP Modernization Bonds and hopes to look for alternative fundraising sources outside of the national budget allocation.
The DND met with the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) late in 2024 to brainstorm on potential funding options. As partners of nation building, BAP was enlightened on what territorial defense entails. For those who grew up as civilians, the layman understanding of military defense would entail weapons. The discussion showed that territorial defense is more than just the acquisition of firearms but includes equipment for monitoring and surveillance such as radar, and similar to typical companies, servers and firewall to accompany digitization.
These discussions on financing options come at a time when Secretary Teodoro’s original budget proposal of P300 billion was only finalized for P250 billion or a P-50 billion reduction to what they were striving for in 2025. This budget only accounts for four percent of the 2025 Budget. Out of the said P250 billion budget, only P50 billion is earmarked for the Revised AFP Modernization Program.
This provides a tremendous shortfall that may need to be funded separately outside the typical annual allocation.
The DND and the BAP consider potential fundraising to improve the country’s defensive capabilities potentially through raising bonds or bank financing. In contemplation of bank financing, current regulations for banks directly have hurdles for weapons financing for a direct participation which would require modifications to the said regulations. For bonds on the other hand, the National Government has had experience of fundraising through retail Treasury Bonds through the Bureau of the Treasury.
As citizens of the country, one way of taking part in ensuring the nation’s safety would be to invest in government bonds especially those intended for national security when the time comes that bonds for this purpose have been made available to the market. Should Defense Bonds ever come into fruition, what is envisioned is that it will take the same easy steps as the regular retail Treasury Bonds.
In the meantime that one cannot directly invest in the modernization of the nation’s defense, each Juan Dela Cruz could invest in nation building by becoming a reservist. AFP Chief of Staff General Brawner was also a recent key speaker in the MAP and gave updates on the activities undertaken in the reservist training. He cited seven MAP members who recently completed the basic civilian military training (BCMT), a three-month course that entailed more than traditional classroom sessions. Simulations of being an actual soldier were a key element of this training. The experience included gun use safety training, rappelling down towers, reading maps and even swimming across a river stealthily with firearms. All these physical activities and more just prove the trainee’s readiness during the physical fitness test (PFT) and join the field training exercise (FTX) weekend. The culminating activity of the training or the FTX weekend simulated the threats Sec. Gibo alluded to, such as being attacked during the day and night in your own nation, to be approached targets, and to go through the obstacle courses that all capture what it’s meant to be like in a war scenario.
The BCMT puts the training and the actual lives of our men and women in uniform in a different light. The experience provided the seven MAP members with an appreciation of the investment each serviceman and woman of armed forces puts into the country to keep it safe.
The seven MAP members, who are now privates, are Ed Francisco, Karen Batungbacal de Venecia, James Velasquez, Racquel Cagurangan, Reza Dadufalza-Goyeneche, Rogelio Anonuevo and Ira Paulo Pozon. The AFP is planning to have the next batch of BCMT training this second quarter of 2025 and would welcome volunteers. Just remember that you have to invest in your country now.
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Written by Eduardo Francisco and Gabriel Edjawan of BDO Capital & Investment Corp. To learn more about SharePHIL, visit https://bit.ly/m/sharephil
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