CAPAS, Tarlac — The Philippine Army started Basic military training for its 708 recruits at the Officer Candidate School grounds in Camp O’Donnell here on Friday.

“Give your training your best and never surrender,” Army chief Maj. Gen. Potenciano Camba told the first batch of trainees for the year. “We will develop your attitude towards military service and your peers.”

He said the Army will transform the recruits in four months into capable, committed and competent infantrymen to meet, in part, its 4,000 candidate soldiers for 2024.

The Army is implementing for the first time a centralized recruitment program to ensure the best and most qualified candidates get to join the service.