In line with its Research Agenda 2020-2022 (downloadable from the NDCP website), the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) conducted the virtual Colloquium on the Future of Philippine Warfare on 15 December 2020.

The Colloquium is part of the “Future of Philippine Warfare” Research Project of the College, with significant support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which aims to theorize Philippine warfare—its nature, conduct, and evolution. The project seeks to address the following questions:

1) How is warfare defined in the Philippine context, and what are the factors which shape its conduct?

2) What are the current and emerging security concerns which will impact the Philippine defense establishment in the next ten years?

3) How do political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, and military factors impact the conduct of warfare?

4) How does the AFP envision the conduct of warfare in land, sea, air, and cyberspace domains in the next 10 years?

Among the issues discussed during the Colloquium were the realities of hybrid warfare and the challenges that need to be confronted in terms of defense planning and capability building, the readiness of the military establishment to deal with non-military complexities, interoperability with regional partners and allies, threats and warfare being driven by advanced technology across dimensions, and the constraints in terms of prioritization and transition.

Officers from various AFP units actively took part in the open discussion in the spirit of academic freedom and non-attribution.

The publication of the first volume of the research project is set for December 2020.