President Aquino orders AFP to 'reassess' sending of troops abroad

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 7): President Aquino orders AFP to 'reassess' sending of troops abroad

President Benigno S. Aquino III has tasked the Armed Forces of the Philippines to reassess the viability of sending Filipino troops to assist in humanitarian missions vis-à-vis the need to uphold the peace and security at the home front, saying a “delicate balance” between the two had to be reached.

In an interview here, the President said he wanted the “vital function” of Filipino contingents sent to the Middle East, Haiti, East Timor, Cambodia and the Golan Heights.

“Ngayon, ‘yung lahat itong deployment nga na ito, may vital function. We are part of the global community. Syempre, kung may katahimikan sa Gitnang Silangan ay nakakatulong rin sa ating sarili ito na, for instance, basta nagkaroon ng giyera diyan nagkakaroon ng upward spiral ng price of oil; napapataas ang lahat ng bilihin, etc,” the President said.

“So tina-task ko ang ating AFP, in particular, to…parang to reassess, matagal na, na can we afford to send this number of people? I am told the number is about a thousand for all of the deployments everywhere when we also have our needs here in the country,” he added.

“So I’m still awaiting the results of that study. Ang balancing is meron naman tayong obligasyon na makatulong mag-enhance ng world peace, ano, pero meron rin naman tayong pansariling interes. Kailangan rin sigurong pagtugmain... ‘yung hindi napapabayaan ang alin man ditong obligasyon,” the President said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=504701