BACKGROUND

PDR came into view after the conclusion of the Joint Defense Assessment (JDA), a thorough review of the Philippine defense capabilities.

As a backgrounder on JDA, ally countries that desire to improve their defense and security capabilities work with the US for its conduct. The JDA provides an objective evaluation of a US ally county’s defense capability and allow an external observer to aptly and accurately recognize deficiencies and to dependently evaluate them. Through this bilateral assessment, the US and the ally country work closely to understand and align mutual interests to better address current and emerging threats.


October 1999. JDA started as a policy level talk between the Secretaries of the RP Department of National
Defense (DND) and US Department of Defense.

1999. The assessment process by the RP-US joint team formally began under the RP-US Defense Experts Exchange. A DND delegation was invited to Pentagon to explore ways to undertake a joint assessment on the AFP capability based on its missions.

2000. US military subject matter experts (SMEs) from the US Pacific Command, assisted by AFP counterparts, conducted capability at division headquarters level.
2001. The qualitative assessment yielded an initial report.

2002. A more comprehensive and quantitative assessment was conducted. This included a notional plan that was crafted with the participation of the AFP.

May 2003. President Macapagal-Arroyo had a state visit in US. She and then US President Bush agreed to hasten the implementation of reforms in the AFP.

September 2003. The JDA was completed with an updated notional plan. The JDA concluded that the AFP’s capability to execute its missions was rated as generally Minus (-) Partial Mission Capable, a vital indicator of the critical condition of the Philippine military’s capability to perform its various mandates. Failure to effectively carry out AFP missions was largely attributed to systemic deficiencies found within the defense and military establishment.
The JDA revealed deficiencies in the following specific areas:

  • Systemic approach to policy planning
  • Personnel management and leadership
  • Defense expenditures and budgeting
  • Acquisition
  • Supply and maintenance
  • Quality assurance for existing industrial base
  • Infrastructure support

Also included in the JDA findings were critical operational/near-term deficiencies in the following capabilities:

  • Operations and Training
  • Intelligence
  • Logistics
  • Communications
  • Civil-military Operations (CMO)
  • Information Operations (IO)

Finally, JDA results indicated deficiencies in critical supporting functional areas, as follows:

  • Medical support
  • Engineering
  • Finance
  • Acquisition
  • Manpower
  • Inspector General system
  • Infrastructure

Overall, the JDA identified 65 key and 207 ancillary areas of concern. The key areas have been distilled into ten (10) key recommendations, which the PDR endeavors to implement throughout a multi-year time-frame:

  • Implement a strategy-driven multi-year defense planning system;
  • Improve AFP operational and training capacity;
  • Improve operational readiness rates of key AFP systems;
  • Improve operational level expertise by addressing organizational, management and operational systemic deficiencies;
  • Develop an effective AFP personnel management system;
  • Plan, program and execute a Multi-Year Capability Upgrade Plan for the AFP;
  • Optimize the defense budget and improve management controls;
  • Create a professional acquisition workforce and establish a centrally- managed defense acquisition system;
  • Increase capability of the AFP to conduct civil-military operations; and
  • Develop accurate baseline data on critical AFP functional areas.

October 2003. Then US President Bush had a reciprocal state visit in the Philippines. He and President Macapagal-Arroyo issued a joint statement which included the joint country commitment to implement the JDA recommendations.
On the same month, The JDA Planning and Implementation Group (PAIG) was established to facilitate the effective implementation of the JDA recommendations in order to enhance Philippine defense capabilities and assist the modernization of the AFP. Under the supervision of the Office of the President, JDA-PAIG was tasked to develop a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) that would serve as the roadmap for the implementation of the JDA recommendations.

2004. The responsibility of implementing the JDA recommendations was delegated by the President to the Secretary of National Defense, who thereafter created the Office of the Undersecretary for Philippine Defense Reform (OUSPDR) to carry the mandate.

November 2005. The PDR structures and processes were defined. The PDR Board, Program Management Committees for the 10 Programs, and Project Teams were organized.

2006. POA&Ms and initial Program Management Plans (PMPs) were crafted.

2007. Crafting of PMPs continued and of initial Project Management Plans (PjMPs) began.

February 2008. Reconstitution of the PDR Board was effected, making the SND the Chairman of the Board, the Chief of Staff of the AFP the Vice Chairman, and the Department Undersecretaries and the Major Service Commanders members. The Office for Defense Reform (ODR) was also established to assist and advise the SND on reform matters.

June 2008. The PDR Program Governance and PDR Board Operations policies were instituted to guide the program leadership in implementing the PDR.

August 2008. A mid-term review was conducted to ascertain the status of PDR and to provide options on how to proceed in implementing it.

December 2008. A new PDR Management and Execution System was instituted and the performance objectives and timelines of the 11 programs, which later became 12 with the inclusion of the integration of the Defense System of Management, and 3 high priority projects were approved.