Assessing the Expanded Role of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Nation-Building

Apart from traditionally fighting the nation’s wars, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has often played a crucial developmental role in nation-building. Whether such should continue or not, this paper argues that the expansion or diminution of the AFP’s nation-building role ultimately depends upon its eventual impact not only on the development of the organization or the nation but on the very survival of the state itself. Supporting its argument, the paper finds evidence in the nation-building history of the AFP during five periods, beginning with the revolutionary era between 1896 and 1901, and concluding with the post-EDSA period up until the present time.