On his first day as ‘top gun” of the Philippine Air Force, Lieutenant General Edgar Fallorina outlined his command guidance in connection with the “enormous challenges” the country is facing including territorial defense.
“Today, we must relearn to fly and fight so that we won’t unnecessarily lose our force; where we use not to explain our actions, today we must know how to speak and share our values with the public,” Fallorina said in his assumption speech during the turnover of command at a PAF base in Lipa City, Batangas.
Fallorina, a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Matikas” Class 1983, replaced retiring Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado. His assumption as PAF’s top gun was welcomed by the supersonic FA50 “Golden Eagle” lead-in jet fighters.
The jets are part of the 12 brand news units worth P18.9 billion purchased by the government from South Korea’s manufacturer Korean Aerospace Inc. PAF will take complete delivery of the jets in 2017.
Without mentioning China, the Air Force chief emphasized the need for the Armed Forces to “retool for asymmetric challenges” and strive harder in order to have enough capability in “facing the overwhelming odds this year.”
Since 2012, China has been using its military might to grab more territories in the West Philippine Sea and converting these reefs into artificial islands for military purposes. Beijing did not only violate the 1992 Code of Conduct of Parties not to militarize the disputed Paracels and Spratly Islands but also rejecting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by grabbing territories in the WPS that are well within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone of Manila.
“Our tasks are enormous and our time is short. The challenges are extra ordinary because our security environment has unraveled in ways we never imagined before…Today we are seeing fusions, affiliations and the blurring of lines, long familiar with what lies within our national territory as part of our heritage and our sovereign rights and entitlements. Today, we are seeing strange landscapes and activities probing and pressing on our sense of collective security,” Fallorina said.
Fallorina said the upcoming change of leadership in government will see how Manila would respond to the much awaited arbitral tribunal’s decision on her challenge to Beijing’s unilateral “nine-dash-line” in the South China Sea and WPS.
“This year is bound to see a jump in activities in our conflicted domains particularly in the cyber and air domains and in the maritime areas. This year holds the highest rounds in leadership transitions within and outside of our organization. This year, likewise, signals the redirection of our international defense and security engagements. And this year looks to further test our collective resolve to pursue our targets in internal peace and security,” he said.
He said the Air Force shall continue to transform and develop so that it must have the capacity and the ability to reach out to a broader range of partners in different regions at various levels and roles in order to address shared concerns and common challenges.
“Our broad engagements should necessarily lead to reinforced alliances, new relationships involving complimentary capabilities and sustained cooperation for mutual ends. To effectively transform we will be guided by the primary objective of Republic Act 10349 (AFP Modernization) and our eyes fixed on Horizons 1 and 2 which hold the development of our corps systems and policies as well as part of our operational strategic defense capabilities,” he said.
