New Military trucks for AFP

MANILA, Philippines - In line with the AFP modernization program, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin led Tuesday the formal turnover of 157 newly-acquired trucks from Korea to the Philippine Army with His Excellency Lee Hye-Min, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines witnessing the event.

The formal turnover and blessing of the 157 newly acquired trucks from the Republic of Korea were held at the Philippine Army Grandstand in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Col. Antonio Parlade, Jr., Army spokesman, said that the acquisition of 137 units of 1 ¼ ton trucks (KM450) was a negotiated procurement through 1994 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Republic of the Philippines and Republic of Korea and in consonance with Section 4 of Republic Act 9184.

The 2 ½ ton TCT Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army involves the acquisition of 250 units of 2 ½ ton TCT and its Integrated Logistics Support (ILS). The first shipment of 20 units arrived on December 9, while the second shipment of 115 units will be done on the first week of January 2011.

Lt. Col. Arnulfo B. Burgos Jr. said that AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Ricardo A. David Jr. and Philippine Army commanding general, Lt. Gen. Arturo B. Ortiz facilitated the turnover ceremony together with representatives from KIA Motors and HYUNDAI Corp. Manila, Kwang-Joo Kim and Hag Nam Kim, respectively.

"To be able to effectively meet the challenges posed by various threat groups, the AFP is required to continually improve its capabilities in order to stay ahead in the battlefield. Primarily, this entails the acquisition of new or upgrade of existing assets and equipment in the organization," said Burgos.

He added: "Being able to meet various challenges and address the modernization requirements will effectively gear up the Armed Forces for better security operations in the country."

Parlade said: "This truck acquisition project is just one of the many projects that we have adopted in consonance with the Republic Act No 7898, more popularly known as the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program."

READ LINK