Duterte visited 14 military camps in less than 1 month. Preparing the military? ~SHARE~

In less than one month, Duterte has visited 14 military camps, consequently a lot speculation is starting to buzz. Why is Duterte doing this? Does it make you nervous?

These are the camps Duterte visited and according to Rappler, no other president has visited so many camps in his first week of power.

• Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Jolo, Sulu (August 12)
• Camp Major Cesar Sang-an (1st Infantry Division or Tabak Division) in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur (August 10)
• Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City (August 9)
• Camp Lukban in Catbalogan, Samar (August 8)
• Camp Panacan, Davao City (August 6)
• Camp Lapu-Labu in Cebu City (August 5)
• Camp General Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz (August 5)
• Camp Victoriano Luna or AFP Medical Center in Quezon City (August 2)
• 60th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Asuncion, Davao del Norte (July 29)
• Camp Guillermo Nakar in Lucena City, Quezon (July 28)
• Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija (July 26)
• Camp Siongco in Awang Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao (July 22 and August 18)
• Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City (July 21)
• 104th Infantry Battalion in Isabela City, Basilan (July 21)

No other president has dropped in on so many military camps in his first weeks in power.

Rappler mentions four reason for Duterte's visiting the camps.

Reason 1: Duterte’s duty to boost morale of troops.
According to Honasan “It’s a normal course of duty and responsibility for the President to go around,” and “It builds up their confidence. The morale is high, there is so much hope,”.

Reason 2: Preparation for authoritarian regime
Outspoken critic of Duterte Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said that Duterte might following the footstep of Venezuelan President Hug Chavez.  According to Trillanes “The first thing they did is to get the support of the Armed Forces and the next thing they did was to tinker with the Constitution so they can perpetuate themselves in power,”

Reason 3: Appeasing the military amid release of communist rebels
Yet another objective of Duterte according to Trillanes may be to calm down the military as he releases communist rebels to build confidence for the peace talks his government is pursuing with the Left.

Reason 4: Gearing up the military for the war on drugs, confrontation with China
Duterte is determined to finish the fight in the drug war. The reach of the military and its physical presence across the nation is a definite advantage for quelling the nationwide “drug menace.”

According to  University of the Philippines political analyst Aries Arugay,“Wherever you are in the country, there is a military structure. In fact, in terms of territorial structure, only the Catholic Church can rival the structure of the military, so it has a wide reach. If you have a nationwide campaign against crime and illegal drugs, you would want to take advantage of the military, logistics, assets, training, software, and hardware,”

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