AFPRESCOM

The ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES RESERVE COMMAND (AFPRESCOM) was enacted through Republic Act 7077 also known as the Reservist Act of the Philippines on June 27, 1991. The concept of establishing a reserve command in the AFP was in conjunction with the 1987 Constitution which states that “the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall be composed of a Citizen Army Force who shall undergo military training and shall be ready to serve as may be provided by law. It shall be kept as a regular force necessary for the security of the State.” This act was in support of the National Defense Act of 1935 which provided that “during emergencies, the government has the right to mobilize its citizens and resources, either public or private, as may be deemed necessary, for national defense.” Both the Reservist Act and the National Defense Act catapulted the development, organization, training, administration, maintenance and utilization of the Citizen Armed Force of the AFP.

Republic Act 7077 mandated the creation of the Reserve Commands in all the major service levels of the armed forces, namely the PHILIPPINE ARMY RESERVE COMMAND (ARESCOM), the PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE RESERVE COMAMND (AFRESCOM), the PHILLIPINE NAVY RESERVE COMMAND (NAVRECOM), the TECHNICAL RESERVE COMPONENT (AFPRESCOM) and the Affiliated Reserves or the AFPARU. Under these reserve commands, the Chief of Staff of AFPRESECOM was also created. To meet the mandates of the law, the General Headquarters of AFP activated AFPRESCOM on April 01, 1993 and re-aligned the personal and facilities of the defunct Metropolitan Citizen Military Training Command (MCMTC) to oversee the Reservist Program. It was the duty of this core group to implement in full force and effect the RA 7077 law and to provide administrative control and supervision over all the reserve units established under this act whose services and utilization are national in scope.

calamities and disasters including the provision of socio-economic development plans and programs in furtherance of the overall AFP mission.

To further strengthen the reserve command of the AFP, Congress further instituted Republic Act 7898 or the AFP Modernization Act which called for the development of self-reliant and credible strategic armed force along the concept of “Citizen Armed Forces” which reconfigured the AFP structures and paved the way to the modernization and professionalism of the AFP.