On Target

Forum Staff

Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. became the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in July 2023. He was previously the 65th commanding general of the Philippine Army, a role for which he was awarded the Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander, for his exceptional service. A highly decorated officer, he has held key posts in the AFP including chief of the 6th Special Forces Company and the 2nd Special Forces Battalion, operations officer in the Special Forces Regiment, and chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division. He also served as commander of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, the Army’s public affairs chief and AFP spokesperson.

After graduating from the Philippine Military Academy in 1989, he earned master’s degrees in information management from Ateneo de Manila University, business administration from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and the European School of Management in the United Kingdom, and strategic studies from the United States Army War College. In 2023, he was inducted into the U.S. Army War College International Fellows Hall of Fame for leading the Philippine Army. 

Brawner sat down with FORUM at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, headquarters of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, to discuss topics including Philippine security challenges, AFP priorities and international reaction to activities in the South China Sea, including the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attempts to harass and blockade Philippine vessels and encroach on Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The interview has been edited to fit FORUM’s format.

What are some of the leading security challenges facing the Philippines?

We’re still dealing with internal security threats. For the longest time, we have been fighting an insurgency war against a communist terrorist group. But I could say that we have been successful in dealing with them. We were given the target by our president to finish the internal security problem of the country, particularly with … the communist, terrorist armed groups and the local terrorists.

Probably the biggest threat that we’re facing now is on the defense of the archipelago of the country. Our biggest concern, really, is how to make sure that we defend our sovereign rights. Meaning we have to protect our rights over the EEZ, particularly in the West Philippine Sea [South China Sea].

The AFP successfully suppressed the insurgency in Marawi. How is the military transitioning from addressing an internal security threat to taking on a much different challenge? 

We have been concerned about external security for a long time, but we haven’t really been focusing enough on it. But this time, we’re looking at more aggressive actions by the PRC. It’s not just the Armed Forces that are feeling the pressure but the entire country. And so, we have the support of the country, we have the support of the president, and that’s why we’re moving toward that shift to territorial defense. Probably one of the bigger challenges is how we can increase our capability to deal with external threats. 

We have had, for instance, a modernization program, which we started in 1995, but it didn’t really take off. But now that we’re seeing more aggressive actions by our big neighbor, everybody is saying we [the nation] should support the Armed Forces and make sure that they’re capable of defending the country against external threats. 

And part of that modernization comes at a cost, so the people have to support putting resources into building out our Armed Forces. One of my advocacies is not just trying to build that capability for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but also making our people understand that it’s not just our [the military’s] responsibility. They have to do their part defending our archipelago as well. I try to relate it to Ukraine, where we see the people — children, even, and women — defending their country. It was the citizens who were there fighting. 

So, that’s what I’m trying to tell the Filipinos: that we have to prepare ourselves. Probably not in terms of being able to fight back and defend ourselves but by having that mindset that all of us should be prepared for any eventuality, whether it is human-made or natural. Because we’re always experiencing typhoons, and then we’re preparing for a big earthquake. … So we’re vulnerable to all of this. And all of us should be prepared, the entire country.

What challenges are you prioritizing?

We’re trying to increase the complexity and perhaps frequency of the joint operations that we’re going to do, not just with the United States but with other like-minded nations. Focusing primarily on the region, but we’ve also been participating in other exercises outside the region.

What capabilities would you like to enhance? 

We’re looking at developing the cyberwarfare capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We’re looking at probably closer collaboration with the U.S. on this aspect and with other like-minded nations. We were looking at, for instance, the model of Singapore, where they created another service, aside from the Air Force, the Navy and the Army. They created a fourth service called the DIS [Digital and Intelligence Service]. And they relaxed the requirements for recruiting Soldiers into the DIS because they understand that this new type of cyber warrior may not necessarily conform with the traditional Soldier that we know. What they were after wasn’t the physical aspect of being a Soldier, but the minds of this younger generation of cyber warriors. So, we’re looking into certain aspects such as that. 

What are the results of the Philippines publicizing some of the PRC’s activities in the Philippines’ EEZ?

We now get the international support that we were hoping we could get, especially from the United States, from European countries, from Australia, from New Zealand, Canada. … But we’re trying to get more support from ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]. We have individual and bilateral support coming from our ASEAN neighbors, but as a collective group, that’s what we’re trying to get. Having more neighbors supporting us would be a big, big thing for us.

What major events are enabling that support? 

From ASEAN, we do have exercises bilaterally with our neighbors — with Indonesia, for instance, and with Malaysia. We also have a trilateral relationship with Indonesia and Malaysia because we share a border in the southern portion of the Philippines. We would like to see a more collective effort among ASEAN nations. With the U.S., there’s no problem, because we’re upping the ante of our operations.

We’re looking at multilateral operations with Australia and Japan. So there are opportunities there. We would like to take advantage of this. And we have been assured by the governments of the U.S., Australia and Japan of support that they’re going to give us. 

Regarding international rules and norms and the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, why are nations and partners rallying together?

At least now we have that common theme of propagating the rules-based international order. But really, if you look at the individual interests of all the countries, all of this boils down to protecting certain interests because of the importance of the region [to] let’s say international trade. And the basic concept of being able to sail wherever you want to … freedom of navigation. Those sorts of concepts are prevalent in all of the narratives of all of these nations, and we’re appreciative of that. 

What are your thoughts on recruiting the younger generation?

The younger Soldiers, they grew up focused on gadgets. Their attention span is shorter because when you’re looking at social media, if it takes a long time to load, let’s say, a picture or a video, you go to the next one. You just move forward. So it’s easy to just change jobs for them. If they don’t like a certain job, they can easily shift to another, so retaining them could be a problem. 

But in the case of the Philippines, we don’t have any problems retaining our Soldiers, even the younger ones. And even recruiting them. In fact, in March 2023 when I came here, I paid a courtesy call to Gen. [James] McConville, [then] chief of staff of the U.S. Army. He asked if we had problems recruiting Soldiers. And I said, ‘Sir, no, we don’t have any. In fact, we have more applicants than the number of Soldiers we can get in.’ 

‘How about the retention of the Soldiers?’ he asked. 

I said, ‘We don’t have any problems as well.’ 

So, I told him, ‘If you have problems recruiting U.S. citizens, why don’t you recruit Filipinos?’ We make good Soldiers. 

Why do you think the AFP has few problems with recruiting and retention?

I guess it’s the culture of the Filipinos. That culture of service.

Tell us about your background and the path that led you to becoming AFP Chief of Staff?

A lot of people would ask me about my family name because it’s uncommon in the Philippines. My family’s history demonstrates the depth of the U.S.-Philippine relationship. My great-grandfather was a member of a U.S. Army regiment, mainly made up of African Americans, that was sent to the Philippines during the Philippine-American War, which started in 1899. Such regiments, whose members were nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers, were formed during the 19th century to serve on the American frontier.

From the stories that I hear from my grandfather, the Buffalo Soldiers were kind to the Filipinos because they were also people of color, and they probably could relate to the Filipinos. The Buffalo Soldiers were recalled back to the U.S., but a few of them stayed behind. One of them was my great-grandfather. So that’s how the family name Brawner started in the Philippines. There are just a few of us. 

Also, during World War II, my grandfather fought together with the American forces in a guerrilla force.

Then, in my father’s generation, because there were one dozen siblings — six boys, six girls — four of the boys went to the military academy. And then, for a generation, we also had a few cousins coming into the military. And then I also entered the academy, and that started my military career in the Philippine Army.

What would you tell fellow leaders is important to understand about the AFP? 

While we are unilaterally preparing for something that could happen in the near future, it’s really the collaboration among like-minded nations that would deter other countries from dominating other areas or dominating the region. So, it’s important that we really work together, collaborate together, continue our joint exercises and, more importantly, just give a collective voice. 

Even with our ASEAN neighbors, as I was saying, it’s important that we give that collective voice. That voice saying that it’s important that we promote the rules-based international order.