Photo Release

Strengthening AFP professionalism: Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, delivers his sponsorship speech on Senate Bill 2376, An Act Strengthening Professionalism and Continuity of the Policies and Modernization Initiatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Monday, September 6, 2021. Lacson, during the hybrid plenary session, said the measure fixes the tour of duty of the Chief of Staff and other officers holding key positions; amends the mandatory retirement age of officers; ensures the implementation of merit-based promotion and attrition systems that will assure the AFP of a continuous pool of qualified and effective leaders; amends the age of commission of officers of the AFP; and, provides a new grade distribution of officers to prevent a bloated officers’ corps. “The clamor for this measure has echoed from the grounds of Camp Aguinaldo to the halls of the Senate repeatedly over the years. Generations after generations of military men have clamored for this piece of legislation, most of them had long retired from the service without this measure seeing the light of day,” Lacson said. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)