Nanawagan si Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. sa mga reservist na tumulong sa pagprotekta sa land at maritime domains ng Pilipinas habang pinupunan ng bansa ang kakulangan sa defense capabilities.
Ginawa ni Teodoro ang panawagan sa pagtatapos ng 47th National Reservist Week sa Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City nitong Sabado, September 12.
“Since we have a gap in our capabilities, we ask the help of our reservists in the maritime domain, in the land domain, on our coastal and island provinces in the Pacific Ocean to extend a hand,” ani Teodoro.
Ayon sa Defense chief, kailangang gampanan ng reserve force ang kanilang papel sa force at mission replication at support.
Binigyang-diin din niya ang pangangailangang labanan ang “foreign and malign influence and improper activities” sa lupa at palakasin ang kontrol ng bansa sa baseline areas kung saan ibinabatay ang maritime entitlements nito.
“We need to push, we need to contribute our fair share, because we are a maritime country and an archipelagic country, in helping others and helping secure our supply chains through freedom of navigation and other normative entitlements that the whole world has under UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the UN to protect our supply chains for vital commodities that our people need to survive daily,” ani Teodoro.
Bukod sa territorial at maritime security, nakikita rin ni Teodoro ang mas malaking papel ng reservists sa community-based disaster response.
“I think it’s high time that we sort of conceptualize a community-based deployable critical function replication,” sabi niya.
Tinukoy niya bilang halimbawa ang first aid responders at village wardens na agad rumeresponde sa panahon ng emergency.
Nilinaw naman ni Teodoro na magiging boluntaryo ang naturang papel.
“I think it’s purely commitment and purely voluntary,” ani Teodoro. /Bistado