Philippine Army sends its first Sabrah light tanks to Mindanao

Four Sabrah ASCOD II light tanks reached Iligan City in northern Mindanao on the morning of Monday 19 October, the first time the Philippine Army has based the tracked vehicles outside Luzon and the Visayas, the Mindanao Gold Star Daily reported. The headquarters of the Army's 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, known as Magbalantay, formally took charge of the tanks the same day at its camp in Maria Cristina, Iligan City, according to the Daily Tribune.

The tanks arrived by sea. The navy landing ship BRP Bacolod City (LS550) carried them from Cavite City on a three-day voyage and docked at the Philippine Ports Authority wharf in Iligan at 8 a.m., the Gold Star Daily said. The ship's commanding officer, Commander Ramil Gregorio Demoni, told the paper that the navy had completed the transport mission at the request of the Army's Armor Division.

Brigadier General Bernardo Taqueban, the brigade commander, said the four vehicles come from a batch of 12 that had earlier been delivered to the Armor Division, which is based at Capas in Tarlac province and led by Major General Ronel Manalo. Metro Cagayan de Oro Progress Watch, a regional development blog, described them as the first of those 12 tanks to be sent to the Western Mindanao Command area.

Taqueban said the deployment is meant to improve the military's ability to respond to external threats while also supporting internal security operations. He described the tanks, which the Army has nicknamed the Armor of Peace, as a major shift in its defence posture, and said they could support operations covering coastal approaches and other strategic defence sectors. In a statement carried by the Daily Tribune, he called the arrival a significant milestone in the modernisation of the Army and said the tanks strengthen the Armor Division in both territorial defence and internal security.

According to both newspapers, the Sabrah ASCOD II carries a 105mm main gun in an automated turret, together with added armour protection and a digital battle-management system, and the Tribune also listed remote weapon stations. The Tribune said the purchase forms part of the Revised Modernization Program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and is meant to raise readiness and combined-arms capability.

One of the four tanks has been named after Army Captain Rommel Sandoval, a Scout Ranger company commander who was killed on 10 September 2017 during the five-month battle for Marawi and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor, the country's highest award for bravery. Progress Watch said he died while trying to rescue a wounded soldier who was trapped under fire inside a building.

The arrival comes as the Army plans to expand its armour formations. The Manila Times reported on 18 October that the Army's 2027 indicative annual procurement plan contains seven small-value entries, all titled Activation of Tank Brigade, worth about 2.67 million pesos in total and to be funded from the proposed 2027 national budget. The paper said the entries do not name any equipment, the brigade's make-up or an activation date. It added that the Army reactivated its 1st Tank Battalion at Camp O'Donnell in Capas on 21 April 2022, and that this battalion operates the Sabrah tanks.

Until this move the Sabrah fleet had stayed in Luzon and the Visayas. Sending tanks to Mindanao, where the Army has long been focused on internal security, extends its newest armour to the south, and the brigade commander has tied the vehicles as much to coastal defence as to security operations at home.