General Romeo S. Brawner

"Peace Through Strength": Excerpted Remarks from Address at NOLCOM

delivered 1 April 2025, Camp Servillano Aquino, Tarlac City, Republic of the Philippines

Audio mp3 of Address       Audio AR-XE mp3 of Address

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Peace is a narrative of triumph that should inspire us all. Furthermore, your dedication to territorial defense operations has positioned NOLCOM [Armed Forces of the Philippines Northern Luzon Command] as a formidable shield against external threats. In fact, NOLCOM is our front-liner here in the Northern Hemisphere. And as I -- as we saw a while ago in their -- in their shift to territorial defense, they have gone a long, long way already.

But let me give you this challenge, this further challenge: Do not be content with securing just the Northern Hemisphere up to Mavulis Island. Start planning for actions in case there is an [kinetic] invasion of Taiwan. Okay? So extend [Tagalog insertion] sphere of operations [Tagalog]. Because if something happens to Taiwan, inevitably we will be involved. There are 250,000 OFWs [Overseas Filipino Workers] working in Taiwan and we will have to rescue them. And it will be the task of Northern Luzon Command to be at the frontline of that operation.

The rigorous military exercises and readiness assessments you undertake not only affirm our capabilities but also strengthen our resolve. In a matter of days, we will be starting our Balikatan exercise. This is the 40th iteration of the Balikatan exercise and most of the exercises will be conducted here in the area, the joint operational area of NOLCOM. [Insertion of Tagalog] NOLCOM commander jowa. He was referring to jowa [insertion of Tagalog] or "girlfriend" or "boyfriend." Jowa. But under your joint area of operations, or joint operational area, most of the activities of Balikatan will be held here. And then again, the -- our CoC [Code of Conduct] will be used, utilized to ensure tha we have a common operational picture while we are conducting our Full Battle Test.

So [insertion of Tagalog] iteration [insertion of Tagalog] Balikatan exercise is now the Full Battle Test, Full Battle Test. We are now testing all of the -- the plans, all of the -- the doctrines, all of the procedures that we have developed in the past years. And this year we are going to test them. It's very important that we prepare for any eventuality.

Last Friday, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Secretary Pete Hegseth, was here in our country. And during his visit, he emphasized the continued commitment of the United States to the Philippines. And most of the support will be coming to this area, to the area of Northern Luzon Command, and in the Western Command of course, because these are the areas where we perceive the possibility of an attack. I -- I do not want to sound alarmist; but we have to prepare.

In the speech of -- of Secretary Hegseth, he said that their objective is to attain “peace through strength.” Peace through strength. But how do you achieve strength? Strength is achieved by preparing for war. And so we are following that -- that line, ladies and gentlemen: We achieve peace through strength and we achieve strength by preparing for war.

Personally, when I took over as the Chief of Staff of the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines], my advocacy -- and I have been espousing this time and again -- is that as members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we should have that mentality that we are already at war. We have been in conflict for several decades with our own people, the members of the New People's Army, members of the local terrorist groups. [Insert of Tagalog] foreign terrorists. But this [unclear] we are fighting with our own people.

But the next conflict, big conflict, that we will be experiencing will not be against our own people; so, we have to prepare for that. And when I -- when I talk about "warfare," we are already -- we -- "we are already at war," I am not referring to the kinetic warfare that we see between Ukraine and Russia, or between Israel and Hamas. But we are experiencing already cyber warfare, information warfare, cognitive warfare, political warfare.

So, [insertion of Tagalog]. The communist China [sic] is already conducting united front works in our country. So, [insert of Tagalog] Manila, they are already infiltrating institutions, our schools, our businesses, our churches, even our ranks in the military. So, [insertion of Tagalog]. So, in a world where the security landscape is perpetually changing, your strategic foresight ensures that we are always one step ahead.

Original Audio Source: YouTube

Audio Note: AR-XE = American Rhetoric Extreme Enhancement

Page Created: 8/1/25

U.S. Copyright Status: Text = Public domain. Audio = Fair Use.