A student’s view of the military

As an intern here in the Civil Relations Service – Armed Forces of the Philippines, I was able to understand more about our military, our government, and our country.

Majority of us, when we heard the word “soldier” or “military” first thing that will come to our mind is war, guns, firing, shooting and worst is killing.

But little did we know that soldiers are there to willingly do their obligation without any doubt and sacrifice their lives for the country.

As a prior knowledge, not all of us are aware that not all soldiers are on field, some of them are in the office, making sure that other offices of the AFP are represented.

Before applying as an intern here in AFP, I have high respect for the Philippine military and that respect increases as I started my internship.

It’s overwhelming to know that not only males are willing to sacrifice their lives for their country, but I have higher respect to the female soldiers.

They have proven that female soldiers can also give pride to their country.

And what I admire most is the bravery and determination of the female soldiers going through the same training with the male soldiers, most especially that being a soldier is not typical for women, knowing that not all who are applying to be a soldier, male or female are given the chance to do service for their country.

In a short period of time, the AFP gave me a wonderful chance to experience new things and a great opportunity to be able to work with the soldiers who represent our country.

I thought life as a soldier requires them to be serious at all times, but then again I was wrong. Being able to work with them proved that they are still normal people with great responsibility.

And I am more than grateful because AFP gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity and new experiences that I know will be useful to me while I’m still studying and even after I graduate and face the outside world. – ROXETTE

R. SALITA, International Studies student, Far Eastern University, Manila