The Philippine Army (PA) is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare and as of 2021 had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers backed by 131,000 ready reserves. The service branch was established on December 21, 1935, as the Philippine Commonwealth Army. The Philippine Army has engaged in many conflicts including the ongoing Communist rebellion in the Philippines, the Moro conflict and, alongside other national military forces, in conflicts of international scope.
The Light Reaction Regiment is the premier counter-terrorist unit of the Philippine Army. It was formerly known as the Light Reaction Battalion and Light Reaction Company. Due to its specialization in counter-terrorism operations and its formation with the assistance of American advisers, the Light Reaction Regiment has been sometimes referred to as the Philippines' Delta Force.
The 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army, nicknamed Tabak Division, is the Philippine Army's primary infantry unit, and specializes in anti-guerrilla warfare. The division has been involved in combating terrorists in Southern Mindanao.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines Special Operations Command (AFPSOCOM) is the unified special operations command of the AFP. It is responsible for planning, conducting, and supporting special operations.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, is an Islamist jihadist militant organization based in Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. It is a smaller player in the overall Moro insurgency and is mostly active in Maguindanao and other places in central Mindanao. It is a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front founded by Ameril Umbra Kato. Following Kato's death, the group split into three factions, one of which has aligned with the Islamic State, while the other two are less radical.
Battle of Basilan was a military offensive launched by the Philippine military to apprehend two lead commanders in the Abu Sayyaf Islamic militia wanted for corruption, money laundering, and terrorism related charges. The main cause of the operation was Sayyaf leader Indama and his followers threatening and attempting to extort money from a circumferential road network. The two-day offensive ended with both suspects evading capture and the island of Basilan falling under government authority. Both the army and MNLF collaborated in fighting alongside for a duration of the operation the first such instance since a truce. However collaborators within the Sayyaf militia included members of the MNLF who sympathized with their cause or had public relations with some of the militants.
Eduardo Manahan Año is a Filipino public official and retired general of the Philippine Army who currently serves as the National Security Adviser under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos since 2023. He previously served as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2018 to 2022, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 2016 to 2017, and the Commanding General of the Philippine Army from 2015 to 2016. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, Año, along with the rest of the Philippine government's Cabinet Secretaries, became part of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a task force formed to advise the President on the strategies which would effectively manage the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
The 2016 Butig clashes were armed conflicts that began on February 20, 2016, between the Philippine Army and a group of Moro insurgent sympathizers of ISIS and Jemaah Islamiyah led by the Maute group in Butig, Lanao del Sur, Philippines. Three Philippine Army soldiers were killed in action, 11 wounded, and 20 terrorists killed in the early phase of battle. 335 families fled to Marawi City and 657 families took refuge in Masiu.
Dawlah Islamiya, also called Islamic State of Lanao and formerly named as the Maute Group, is a radical Islamist group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and foreign fighters. Based in Lanao del Sur, it was founded by brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute. The organization, which also conducted a protection racket operation in the municipality of Butig, clashes on several occasions with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the most significant of which began in May 2017 and culminated in the siege of Marawi.
The siege of Marawi, also known as the Marawi crisis and the Battle of Marawi, was a five-month-long armed conflict in Marawi, Philippines, that started on May 23, 2017, between Philippine government security forces against militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS), including the Maute and Abu Sayyaf Salafi jihadist groups. The battle also became the longest urban battle in the modern history of the Philippines.
Omarkhayam Romato Maute was a Filipino Islamist militant who co-founded, along with his brother Abdullah Maute, a Dawlah Islamiyah group in Mindanao based in the Philippines, commonly known as the Maute group after their surname.
The Philippines is one of the state opponents of the militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), more commonly referred to by the local media as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Rommel Bigyan Sandoval was a Philippine Army officer commissioned as captain and a recipient of the Philippines' highest military award for courage, the Medal of Valor. Sandoval was the Commanding officer of the 11th Scout Ranger Company, 4th Scout Ranger Battalion of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment deployed to fight ISIS-inspired militants during the 2017 Battle of Marawi. He graduated at Philippine Military Academy located in Baguio.
This is a chronology of the Moro conflict, an ongoing armed conflict in the southern Philippines between jihadist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Maute Group, Jemaah Islamiyah, and Islamic State affiliates, mainstream separatist groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and the Philippine Government since 1971. Much of the fighting has been concentrated on the island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, with spillover incidents and attacks occurring in the Philippine capital Manila and neighboring countries such as Malaysia.
Carlito Guancing Galvez Jr. is a retired Philippine Army general serving as the Senior Undersecretary and briefly as officer-in-charge of the Department of National Defense since 2023 and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process since 2018. He also served as the Chief Implementer of the Philippines' Declared National Policy Against COVID-19. In November 2020, he was appointed as the country's COVID-19 vaccine czar, and was responsible for leading the government's efforts in bringing into the country about 245.23 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of May 2022 beginning in 2021 despite the global vaccine shortage. Prior to this, he also previously served as the 50th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from April to December 2018.
Macairog Sabiniano Alberto is a Filipino retired general and diplomat who served as the former Commanding General of the Philippine Army. He is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy "Sinagtala" Class of 1986.
Rolando Joselito Delizo Bautista is a retired Filipino lieutenant general who served as the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development under the Duterte administration from 2018 to 2022. He held various positions in the military, such as the former Commanding General of the Philippine Army, commander of the Joint Task Force Marawi during the Battle of Marawi, and the Presidential Security Group.
Felimon Talusan Santos Jr. is a retired Filipino general who served as the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Prior to his appointment, he served as the commander of the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command, and the 7th Infantry Division. He is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy "Sinagtala" Class of 1986.
Romeo Saturnino Brawner Jr. is a Philippine Army general who has served as the 60th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines since July 21, 2023. Prior to his appointment to the post, Brawner previously served as the 64th Commanding General of the Philippine Army.
Gener Tinangag was an enlisted marine of the Philippine Marine Corps and a recipient the Philippines' highest military award for courage, the Medal of Valor.
Philippines 
Special Forces 
