The military commemorated on Tuesday its 86th anniversary in a somber fashion in solidarity with the victims of Typhoon Odette, bypassing even its program and what was supposed to have been a fly-by by Air Force planes in tribute to the Commander-in-Chief who is already in his last term as the country’s President.
“In these challenging times, brought about by the devastation of Typhoon Odette and the persisting pandemic, we will forego the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] anniversary program, parade, and fly-by in solidarity and sympathy with our kababayans and in order to not disrupt our on-going humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations,” said the AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Andres Centino.
“We shall celebrate while doing our jobs in the field. This is how we will honor our long history of service and tradition of sacrifice to the Filipino people,” he added, as soldiers and military equipment were sent to the Visayas and Mindanao where they are now helping in the ongoing disaster response operations.
“We may not be able to fully alleviate the suffering of affected families and individuals, but we hope to at least give them a sense of comfort and security in these uncertain times and in the coming holidays,” Centino said.
The parade and fly-by by assets and equipment which came in numbers under Duterte would have been the last fitting tribute by soldiers to the Commander-in-Chief who will be vacating the presidency in June next year.
Still, the military took note of its outstanding members and units in a recognition ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo, according to military public affairs office chief Col. Jorry Baclor.
During the ceremony, a number of personnel were individually recognized for their achievements, and for groups and stakeholders over their contributions to the peace and security efforts.
“We give tribute to the honorable contributions of our model personnel, our valued stakeholders, and the trailblazing units and offices in the general headquarters and in the field,” Centino said.