Economics of reservists

As a reservist, it made me feel good to hear President Duterte talk about the importance of the reserve force in the AFP and the need to have the ROTC program back in our schools. That made perfect sense to me and it was a simple matter of economics. We simply could not afford a large standing military force but we certainly need one.

The cost of a soldier is more than just paying a salary. Actually the salary is just the tip of the iceberg. Given the nature and the demands on military personnel, there is the need to provide for more services, facilities and training. Typically, all their uniforms, equipment, board and lodging are also provided to them. On top of that, hospitalization benefits and medical facilities are available and normally free.

Training and education expenses are also quite hefty since they could be very specialized and require tremendous amounts of resources. Think of how much it costs to train each PMA Graduate or a fighter pilot. Every time systems are changed or upgraded, new tech-nologies developed and new soldiers deployed, there is a need to provide instruction and training.

Once the soldier retires when he celebrates his 56th birthday, the cost does not end there, he then gets his pension and it is possible that his pension benefits lasts longer than his actual length of service. With our limited resources, most of the budget for the AFP is really being used to support the payment of salaries and personnel related expenses including the pension liabilities to the hundreds of thousands of our retired AFP soldiers.

There might be those that question the need for a large military force or even having one at all. Obviously, those people that do that are either uninformed, misinformed or enemies of the state. Given all the threats our sovereignty faces from internal and external sources, we certainly need to be able to defend ourselves. Considering the various additional roles our AFP, including reservists, undertakes during periods of calamities, emergencies and nation building, it would be difficult not to see the need for a strong and well manned AFP.

Reservists plays a critical role in the AFP, that would make it possible to have sufficient manpower when needed. The economics of reservists works quite well for government since reservists hardly eats into the budget of the AFP. Reservists do not get a salary or a pension. They normally procure their own uniforms and equipment. In many cases their training and education needs are merely familiarization and integration since most of them already have related jobs with the technical training and experience in their civilian work.

In spite of the recent adverse publicity on a former Reservist, which was really an isolated case, the Duterte administration, DND and AFP should proceed unwaveringly with the re-cruitment, development, integration and utilization of reservists. I am certain that if the AFP can attract the right quality of reservists, it will be able to perform its role of securing the sovereignty of the state and the integrity of the national territory.

(Comments may be sent to georgechuaph@yahoo.com)