(Photo courtesy of DND)
MANILA – Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. plans to develop the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Visayas Command (VISCOM) into a central logistics hub to strengthen territorial defense, internal security and humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations.
In a statement Wednesday evening, Teodoro said VISCOM’s strategic location in the central Philippines makes it an ideal support center for military operations across the Visayas and nearby regions.
“I reiterate that the VISCOM area will be a central logistics area for territorial defense operations and for internal security logistics once again, because we are the center of the Philippines for a purpose, and that purpose is to be the logistics hub for both areas of the southern Philippines, the Mimaropa Region, and Northern Mindanao,” Teodoro said.
The defense chief emphasized the command’s importance in supporting military operations while maintaining its role in internal security and emergency response.
He noted that VISCOM’s two major installations, Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City and Brig. Gen. Benito N. Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan, have demonstrated their operational capabilities during previous natural disasters.
Both facilities have served as important staging and support areas for humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions.
Teodoro said strengthening VISCOM’s logistics capabilities would improve the military’s ability to mobilize personnel, equipment and essential supplies for defense and emergency operations.
VISCOM, formerly known as the Armed Forces’ Central Command, was officially renamed on August 11, 2021.
