The Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit, variously called Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit, Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit and commonly referred to by its

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

CAFGU (pronounced "kahf-goo") is an irregular auxiliary force of the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...

with total strength of 61,200 personnel as of 2020.

Creation

The CAFGU was created on July 25, 1987, when

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Corazon C. Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...

signed Executive Order No. 264 entitled "Providing for the Citizen Armed Force". The creation of the unit was based on the "clear, consolidate, hold and develop" strategy adopted by then-Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos in dealing with insurgent-infiltrated villages. CAFGU units are components of the AFP Ready Reserve detailed to Military Auxiliary Service. Article X, Sec. 61, sub-paragraph 2 of Republic Act 7077 describes this manner of service as follows:

Military auxiliary service entails services rendered in meeting local insurgency threat. Reservists serving under this category will be organized into Ready Reserve units. They must be issued and allowed to carry firearms: Provided, That these reservists will be utilized only for the defense of their respective localities and will not be employed outside their localities. Elected/appointed local government officials are expected to perform their duties and responsibilities in their respective peace and order council levels or similar organizations efficiently and effectively to enhance a total integrated system approach against threats to national security. The Secretary of National Defense shall prescribe the rules and regulations to implement this section in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government.

Organization

CAFGU units are administered by, and under the operational control of, regular units of the

. Philippine Army infantry battalions assigned to this function are also referred to as "Cadre Battalions". Deactivation of CAFGU units assigned to these battalions result in the return of their status as regular infantry battalions. The CAFGU units are tasked to prevent the re-infiltration of insurgents into communities that have already been cleared of their influence by combat operations conducted by regular units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The CAFGU units are issued

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

; typically

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World W ...

, M-14, or

M-16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of service rifle, military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 rifle was a ...

rifles, and receive a monthly stipend of Php 4,500.00 (about US$92.43).

Criticism

In 1993, the Philippine government considered deactivating the CAFGU units due to allegations of

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

abuses; 60 CAFGU units comprising 10,000 troops were disbanded. However, in 1996, the government halted its program to completely disband the CAFGU units. As of 2007, an estimated 60,000 CAFGU troopers are active in the country, taking part in military operations alongside regular soldiers of the AFP. The

Commission on Human Rights A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

' records show that as of 2000, 853 human rights abuse cases have been filed against 1,070 CAFGU members.

References

{{reflist Department of National Defense (Philippines) Military of the Philippines Human rights Reserve and Auxiliary Units of the Philippine Military

Creation

Organization

Criticism

See also

Further reading

References