CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City – After years of delay due to the pandemic, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) finally inaugurated the newly-constructed Corps of Professors Building in Camp Aguinaldo on Monday, April 4.
The two-storey building will serve as the Office of the Dean, Corps of Professors, AFP (ODCOP, AFP) led by Colonel Stephen V Agtoto. It was a project passed down to him by former deans and pioneering members of the ODCOP, AFP headed by Brigadier General Archimedes Viaje in 2011.
The inauguration and blessing ceremony was attended by the AFP Chief of Staff, General Andres C Centino, and Deputy Speaker Lorna Regina B Legarda.
“I am proud and happy that we are achieving our aspirations of providing a conducive and modern workstation for our military educators. I cannot overemphasize enough the role of our military educators in molding and developing a strong and capable military,” General Centino said.
The new structure is part of a P25-Million project funded through the General Appropriations Act Fiscal Year 2019 through the initiative of then Senator Legarda. The ODCOP facilitated the preparation of architectural and engineering plans with the assistance of the Naval Combat and Engineering Brigade and the Office of the Chief Engineer, AFP in May 2019.
Despite delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ODCOP, AFP finally broke ground in June 2020. The Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee conducted the final inspection in February 2022.
The AFP previously inaugurated a four-storey building in December 2021 which provided a modest yet comfortable home for the AFP Corps of Professors and their families.
“The work of our military educators is multifaceted. They have the ability to influence and shape our personnel thus this new building shall no doubt enhance our corps of professors’ working conditions enabling them to pursue higher competencies and more productivity,” the AFP Chief of Staff said.
The COP, AFP was formerly a military faculty at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City. It was established in August 1941 and was made into an Administrative Service of the AFP by Executive Order 292 in 1987.
They were transferred to the AFP General Headquarters, Quezon City in 2011 serving as the core of professional military educators that provides the academic and technical expertise required by the organization.///(Photos by A2C Ted Castro PAF/PAOAFP)
