The Philippine President, Benigno Aquino Jr., signed today, the 1st of April 2014, Executive Order 0202, ordering for a limited conscription of citizens into the Philippine Army. Although, there is no mandatory conscription in the Philippines, its Constitution provides a possibility of mandating conscription in Section 4, Article II. This limited conscription is aimed at recruiting airsoft players, 18 years and above, to comprise its special reserve force in case of war.

The Philippines is a laggard in defence spending in Asia and has other priorities in its National Budget. However, the country is at loggerheads with China in territorial disputes in the South China Sea (which the Philippines call as "West Philippine Sea"). Whilst it has elevated its case to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)  to justify its claims using the UNCLOS, it also needs a credible Naval and Air Force to be able to patrol the islands that are in dispute with China. China has the second largest defence budget in the world, with ambitions in building a very  large blue water force, and has already been forcing Philippine naval assets and fishermen to move out in the South China Sea.

The Philippines can only send a refurbished U.S. Coast Guard Cutter to patrol the areas and has no air assets in terms of jet fighters to cover a larger area faster. It has the 52nd largest defence budget in the world at US$1.9 Billion as compared to China's US$166 Billion (and could still be bigger according to other sources).

The country wants to spend more on modern ships and airplanes in order to present a credible force against Chinese incursions. With the recent Crimean crisis in which Russia was able to wrestle the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine without even firing  a shot, the Philippines is worried that such event might encourage to China to force out its units already stationed is disputed territories.

With the recent signing of a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Philippines has reduced its internal insurgency problems to rag tag units of the New People's Army and the breakaway forces of the MILF. This will allow the government to reduce the Philippine Army, and devoting the savings to buying Naval and Air Assets. It has recently signed an agreement with the South Koreans for an initial 12 FA-50 Jet Fighters and are in the market for modern Frigates.

In order to have a smaller professional army, the Philippine Defence Department wants to adopt the Israeli model of a small but highly trained and professional army and backed-up by a larger but well-trained reserve force. The smaller professional army can have a good budget, but maintaining a large and well-trained reserve force, that's where the problem lies as it will cost more training and providing equipment.

And that's where the Filipino airsoft players come in.

According to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff, General Emmanuel T. Bautista, conscripting airsoft players make sense as they do not have to spend much in equipment for the airsoft players. The airsoft players already spend money on their tactical gear and look even more well-equipped than the Army regulars and the airsoft guns they have can be used for tactical training. They will be trained in marksmanship with real weapons at military camps around the country but the field training exercises will be mainly airsoft.

"The airsoft players can allow us to devote more money in building a very modern Philippine Navy and Air Force, " Bautista said. "Since airsoft players say that they are good at being 'operators' they will then be the main defence units in case of an invasion of the Philippine Islands by a foreign power."

Airsoft players will not be given uniforms and can stick with their existing loadouts since they will be mainly operating as guerilla units. The Philippine Army plans to convert itself into a very large guerilla force when it fails t repel a foreign invasion. Uniforms rarely matter in guerilla warfare.

"We have been getting requests from airsoft players if they can use our military facilities for airsoft games and even act as OPFOR for training our regular forces. Now they can be formally incorporated into the Army structure and they can do all the things that they have been requesting for so long, " Bautista added.

Airsoft players names will have to be submitted by airsoft shops when they buy their airsoft guns from them. They do not have to report to barracks every day and can show up according to scheduled field training exercises and marksmanship sessions. The Philippine Army expects airsoft players to devote at least 40 days a year to train with the Army regulars.

Will the airsoft players maintain their airsoft teams? General Bautista says it depends on deployment but highly likely since most airsoft players will be deployed in their own communities. But during training, things can go differently.

Executive Order 0202 will take effect immediately. Airsoft players will need to report to the nearest Philippine Army camp on the 9th of April 2014 for initial orientation and briefing on their duties as part of the Army organisation. The 9th of April is also the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) which is a Public Holiday in the Philippines.

Update: Happy April Fools' Day :)