Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 8) — New Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro wants to “reform” the Department of National Defense (DND) and calls for an increase in “investments” to enable the department to “do what they need to do.”
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Final Word on Wednesday, Teodoro said the DND is a \”service provider and a resource manager\” which needs resources to provide for the five agencies it handles.
\”We need to reform the department itself. Can you imagine that we only have 300 or so plantilla positions with a stakeholder base of almost a million and with ₱127 billion assets under management with only 300 employees?\” he said.
\”The department proper needs a lot of investments in continuing education to enable us to do what we need to do as service providers for our five agencies,\” he added.
Agencies under the DND include the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Office of Civil Defense, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, the National Defense College of the Philippines, and the Government Arsenal.
Teodoro has committed to lobby in Congress for a bigger budget for the DND, stressing the need to purchase more capital assets to boost military capabilities, add infrastructures, and improve the overall national defense.
\”I hope Congress responds to this call not only in terms of building our physical capabilities, but also in continuing education and building our expertise,\” he said.
\”We want a new Department of National Defense not for today, but for future problems which we don’t even think of at the present time, and which may afflict future generations,\” he added.
Teodoro also emphasized the need to upskill uniformed officers so they could become employable once they leave service.
\”We have to invest in continuing higher education in all our agencies, not only in the AFP. So that they learn new skills, they become employable after the service for legitimate growth enterprises in our country. So that they become participants and multipliers in a productive way,\” he explained.
