Panayam kay AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla patungkol sa pagbigay ng commitment sa pagpapatupad ng International Humanitarian Law
Bilang ng Chinese ships sa West Philippine Sea, tumataas
Bilang ng Chinese ships sa West Philippine Sea, tumataas
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00:00Commitment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to International Humanitarian Law
00:04we will discuss with Col. Francel Margaret Padilla,
00:09the spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
00:12Col. Padilla ma'am, good afternoon and welcome to Bagong Pilipinas today.
00:17Good afternoon Usec Edu and Ma'am Nina.
00:20Good afternoon to all the viewers of Bagong Pilipinas.
00:24Ma'am, first of all,
00:25how important is the continued implementation of the international standards
00:30of humanitarian conduct of the Armed Forces of the Philippines?
00:35Sir Usec Edu,
00:36the continued implementation of the international standards of humanitarian conduct is very important,
00:46especially for our Armed Forces of the Philippines.
00:50One of the most important things here is the protection of civilians.
00:55We ensure that the civilians in times of conflict are protected
01:02so that we can prevent unnecessary suffering and harm in times of conflict.
01:08Over and above this, we should also maintain human rights.
01:14Our compliance with international humanitarian law
01:18strengthens the commitment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
01:23to respect human rights
01:26so that our trust and support of the public in the Armed Forces of the Philippines can be maintained.
01:34This strengthens our reputation.
01:38And of course, another thing here Usec and Ma'am Nina,
01:41is the prevention of violations.
01:45We are trained here, we are regularly trained
01:49so that the education of every soldier in international humanitarian law
01:55can prevent violations that can result in legal cases,
02:01in cases where we can be violated.
02:04And also, we do not want to have international criticism.
02:12Over and above that, our President said that the Philippines is a peace-loving nation.
02:19And so we are pushing forward our advocacy for peace.
02:24We respect the IHL because it serves as a strong foundation for long-term peace.
02:33So we are in pursuit for long-term peace and stability.
02:39And overall, having said all of that,
02:43we also want to maintain the morale of our soldiers.
02:47As long as they know that they are adhering to the international humanitarian law,
02:53this helps the morale and discipline of our soldiers.
02:58Colonel Franzel, what is the significance of the reaffirmation
03:04of the International Humanitarian Law Commitment of the AFP
03:07in the global effort to advance humanitarian standards?
03:13Yes, Ma'am Nina.
03:14Actually, on August 5, we had an oath-taking ceremony.
03:21This was even led by our Chief of Staff.
03:24And our Chief of Staff, General Romeo Browner Jr.,
03:27emphasized the critical importance of the International Humanitarian Law
03:34in dedicating our military strength to respecting and implementing the IHL standards.
03:41This oath-taking ceremony was held here at GHQ.
03:46And what we want here overall for the global standards
03:50is to strengthen the international norms here in the Armed Forces.
03:55So we affirm from the AFP that we are showing support
04:00for the international observance of the principles of the IHL.
04:04Here as well, we demonstrate our leadership.
04:09And each soldier should be a model in adhering to the International Humanitarian Law.
04:15We are becoming an inspiration here.
04:18And we serve as a benchmark for other nations and militaries to emulate.
04:24So as you have seen, Ma'am Nina and Sir Edu,
04:27during the last RORE, we have really shown the courage of our soldiers
04:33that we really adhere to the IHL.
04:38And with this, we are strengthening cooperation.
04:42If you see, even our exercises within the AFP now,
04:46many like-minded nations are joining in the exercises that were conducted.
04:53You can see that we are really setting the bar of how we implement
05:00our commitment towards International Humanitarian Law.
05:04And so with this, we are avoiding international criticism.
05:08And overall, as I said earlier, we are pushing forward a free and open Indo-Pacific
05:16in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.
05:20All right.
05:21Colonel, just to better understand our countrymen,
05:24can you give an example of how the integration of the AFP
05:29and Humanitarian Law in your operations?
05:33We can give many examples.
05:35Practically, Sir Edu, we showed this during the last RORE,
05:39the adherence of our troops to the rules of engagement.
05:44It is clear that the rules of engagement that are based on International Humanitarian Law
05:50are based on what our troops did, the limitations,
05:56and our observance of the use of force
06:00so that we can ensure the actions of our troops on the ground.
06:05All of these, our rules of engagement,
06:08we are making sure that it adheres to the International Humanitarian Law
06:12so that we can minimize the harm
06:15and also so that civilians are not harmed in other cases.
06:19And also, not only that,
06:22we also have humanitarian assistance and civil-military operations.
06:27So in each of our operations,
06:30the AFP provides humanitarian assistance to the affected communities.
06:36So, Sir and Ma'am, we bring supplies to these cases,
06:43food, water, and medical assistance.
06:46And of course, training and education, we do this regularly.
06:52So that's another example.
06:54And also, another is our knowledge of non-combatants.
07:01In times of operations,
07:04the AFP ensures that non-combatants,
07:08such as civilians, children,
07:11and others who are not directly involved in the fight, are protected.
07:17We have processes that are followed here
07:20so that we can take care of this
07:22and get rid of those who are not involved from these dangerous areas.
07:28Another example that we are really doing now,
07:32led by our Commander-in-Chief, our President,
07:34are partnerships with our humanitarian organizations.
07:38So all of these are like-minded nations
07:41that are helping our armed forces
07:44so that the local as well as the international humanitarian organizations
07:49can have partnerships.
07:51One example is the International Committee on the Red Cross.
07:55So that we can ensure the implementation of IHL.
07:59And of course, we will provide the necessary assistance to the affected populations.
08:05We also have legal means to this,
08:08to investigate if there are violations.
08:12And finally, another example could be
08:16to maintain our humanitarian corridors,
08:21to keep it open in times of operations.
08:24Under the leadership of our Armed Forces of the Philippines,
08:27we will have humanitarian corridors
08:30so that we can provide a way for our civilians to escape
08:35so that they can enter and avail humanitarian aid.
08:41In other talks,
08:43what are the details of your plan
08:47to increase the number of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea?
08:55Yes, Ma'am Nina.
08:56From last week, there were around 104 Chinese vessels.
09:02And this week, it went up to 122.
09:06This varies, Ma'am Nina and Edu.
09:10Every week, there are certain cases that their numbers are increasing.
09:15There are also certain cases that their numbers are decreasing.
09:19We cannot, of course, speculate on this,
09:22what is the reason behind it.
09:23But some of the reasons could be,
09:26last time, it went down because the weather was not good in this area.
09:31So, there will also be less presence of vessels in the area.
09:35So, at any one time,
09:36the West Philippine Sea,
09:38which is part of the South China Sea,
09:41is a very busy corridor.
09:43So, other vessels come and go.
09:47And so, overall, we could not really speculate on the numbers.
09:52But what is important to emphasize
09:54is that the Armed Forces of the Philippines
09:57is able to monitor this presence
09:59and act accordingly with the issuance of challenges
10:02and, of course,
10:04what actions should be taken by our Armed Forces.
10:11All right.
10:12Colonel, please send a message to our countrymen who are watching us now.
10:17Sir Edu,
10:19the Armed Forces of the Philippines are very happy with the latest survey that came out.
10:24We maintained the strong and great trust of the Filipino people
10:30in our Armed Forces of the Philippines.
10:32We are thankful for the great trust they gave.
10:36As we say, 8 out of 10 Filipinos are willing to fight with the AFP
10:41and 7 out of 10 Filipinos trust the AFP.
10:45So, this is something that we really value
10:50and we will make sure that the trust given to us by the Filipino people will not be destroyed.
10:57This is our plan.
10:59We want every Filipino and the whole world to know about the West Philippine Sea.
11:07And our battle cry for this is
11:09Our seas are our ocean.
11:11Our rights are our future.
11:15We are here for the long haul.
11:17This is going to be a protracted issue that we need to address as a nation.
11:22And we need to know this,
11:24we need to fight this,
11:26and we need to support this.
11:27We will continue to monitor and do all the necessary steps
11:33to ensure the security and peace of our country.
11:36Your support and trust is important to our mission.
11:40Thank you very much.
11:41No one is stronger than you.
11:44All right.
11:45Thank you very much for your time.
11:47Colonel Franzel Margaret Padilla,
11:49the spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
11:53Thank you, Edwin and Nina.
11:55Have a good trip.