The salary increase provided by the government for the uniformed personnel might fast track the recruitment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“Because of the increase of the salary of our soldiers, many would be encouraged to join our armed forces,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesman, told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo Thursday.

“The recruitment is continuous because this is part of the order of our commander-in-chief for us to recruit an additional 10 battalions. Our recruitment is part of increasing the number of our soldiers compared to our population," he added.

Arevalo said the AFP will strictly observe the standard requirements on recruiting additional personnel.

“The AFP still need to follow its mandate, its standard to ensure that only of those who are of good moral character and or those who have entry skills and requirement will able to enter the armed forces,” he said.

“Much of this is a service this is an organization that requires no less than our dedication to serve our country and our people,” he added.

Arevalo said so far the AFP has recruited a total of 10,000 soldiers in previous year and they still need to hire around 5,500 additional personnel.

He said 3,500 are for the Philippine Army, then 1,000 others for Philippine Air Forces and 1,000 more for Philippine Navy. Robina Asido/DMS