Reps. Vincent Garcia (NPC, Davao City) and Aurelio Umali (Lakas, Nueva Ecija) warned that the plan of action should not center only on material needs of soldiers. Neither should the blueprint address merely piece-meal resolutions of problems within the military establishment.

They stressed that the proposal should include reforms that would cover all aspects from academic, training, resources, justice, to the moral and political side of the military.

Garcia, vice chairman of the House Committee on National Defense and Security, said the plan of action would complement the action being undertaken by President Arroyo to resolve remaining problems within the AFP.

The President has been visiting camps and holding dialogues with soldiers to address their concerns.

The President’s move came almost three weeks after government averted a possible military rebellion reportedly inspired by Arroyo’s political foes.

"The AFP leadership should on its own come up with a blueprint of reforms to address problems of soldiers in specific areas. We can’t just talk about reforms based on generalities,’’ Garcia said.

The Davao City lawmaker explained that the AFP leadership should not focus on the material needs of soldiers like supplies, equipment, and salaries because there might be other reasons for the rumblings of some AFP members.

Umali assured the AFP leadership that congress will study the proposed blueprint of reforms it will submit for possible legislation to help the military institutionalize reforms.

"The House has always been supportive of our AFP and has given the attention and support the institution needs whenever it is confronted by issues,’’ Umali noted.

He said the plan of action would amount to troubleshooting for specific problems in the AFP.

"They should look at all areas involving AFP members from their education, training, to actual service and see what are their specific concerns in each of this phases,’’ Umali added.