Report of Meetings : September 22, 1995

Decrying that danger to national security does not lie alone in communist propaganda discrediting US-PI relations but also in the "officiousness" of some sectors in giving substance to that propaganda, Lt. Gen. Jesus Vargas, AFP chief of staff, speaking before Manila Rotarians last Sept. 22, appealed for help in combatting the threat of subversion. While admitting that existing arrangements between America and the Philippines can be improved, Vargas ventured the opinion that the approach should be a sober and matured one, "without any unnecessary agitation to bring about re-examination." Vargas also averred that "we in the military forces who have fought side by side with the Americans fighting in Korea have not lost faith in the sincerity and high purpose of American participation in regional defense arrangements." The AFP chief of staff added that no one nation can claim that she is secure without giving due consideration to the security of the rest of the world particularly those countries geographically proximate to her. Lt. Gen. Jesus Vargas, AFP's chief of staff, spoke before the Manila Rotarians on Sept. 22 on Philippine security. Seated, left to right: Acting Rotary Club President Jonby Carlos, JUSMAG Chief Maj. Gen. Wayne Smith, Col. Jaime Velasquez, and Brig. Gen. William Lee.