AFP marks 75th anniversary today
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will observe its 75th anniversary today with President Benigno Simeon Aquino III as guest of honor and speaker.
The ceremony will be held at Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
This will also be the first time that President Aquino will attend the elaborate ceremony as commander-in-chief of the 130,000-strong Armed Forces.
AFP chief of staff Gen. Ricardo David Jr. will also make his accomplishment report of the military, particularly the AFP’s internal security operation.
The AFP was organized on Dec. 21, 1935 while the Philippines was still a Commonwealth Government.
However, the origin of the AFP dates back to the Tejeros Convention in 1897–where the revolutionary government of General Emilio Aguinaldo created the Philippine Army under Captain General Artemio Ricarte.
This Army was the off-shoot of the Revolutionary Forces, which took arms against the Spanish Government from Aug. 30, 1896 up to Dec. 10, 1898 when the treaty of Paris was entered into by the United States of America and Spain.
The same Army engaged the Americans during the hostilities between the Philippines and the United States, which began on the night of Feb. 4, 1899 and lasted up to Sept. 25, 1903–when the last of Filipino generals, General Simeon Ola, surrendered to the Americans.
After the Filipino-American war, the country’s armed forces organized through the promulgation of the National Defense Act in 1935, which created the Philippine Army, with the off-shore patrol and Army Air Corps as its major components.
The Philippine Constabulary, was then existing under the Department of Interior.
The Philippine Army subsequently became the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Dec. 23, 1950 with four major services namely: Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Navy and the Philippine Constabulary.
Various activities are lined up for the Diamond anniversary celebration of the AFP.
Former AFP chiefs of staff, led by former President Fidel V. Ramos, have been invited to attend the celebration. During the ceremony, the AFP is also expected to unveil its newly acquired eight trainer planes during a fly-by over Camp Aguinaldo.*PNA
