BAGUIO CITY (PIA) — National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. highlighted the importance of a strong armed forces in safeguarding the country’s sacred sovereignty, territorial integrity and dignity as a Filipino people.
“A foundation of any strong country in the volatile world is a strong, professional, knowledgeable and well-trained armed forces. There is no ifs, no buts about that,” Teodoro emphasized during the 128th Founding Anniversary of the Philippine Military Academy on Oct. 24, 2026.
He said that this requirement has become more pressing as the Philippines seeks to strengthen its maritime capabilities, expand its operational reach and enforce its laws across its vast maritime domain.
“It depends on who we deal with. We deal with state actors that are willing to conform to the basic mandates of international law, then fine. However, that is not always the case as we are seeing now,” the official said.
Teodoro said the Academy’s responsibility is to prepare officers for the realities of an increasingly complex security environment while grounding them in professional standards, national service and respect for the rule of law.
The Defense Secretary also asserted the principle of war fighting that extends beyond combat operations and direct use of military force. This covers all uniformed personnel and civilian human resource professionals within the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
He added that a professional and capable armed forces requires an ecosystem in which operational units are supported by effective intelligence, logistics, administration, personnel management, and welfare systems.
He also highlighted the growing weaponization of information and the need for military leaders to extend their know-how beyond conventional battlefields.
“So, we have to create the ecosystem, not only to predict, to deal with and respond to this, but also to create a future body of leadership that will have the ability to manage and steward, not only the ability to make threats, but also the organization that needs to be shaped, that needs to be motivated, and that needs to be managed to deal with these challenges,” Teodoro said.
Teodoro graced the PMA founding anniversary with the theme PMA @ 128: A Lifetime of Service to the Nation. **JDP/DEG-PIA CAR
