The Associated Press
In this photo by Bullit Marquez, President Benigno Aquino III hands new assault rifles to Filipino soldiers at armed forces headquarters. More than 50,000 M4 assault rifles are being delivered this year to modernize the Philippine military, one of Asia’s most ill-equipped. U.S. counterterrorism forces have been providing advice, combat training and intelligence, including drone surveillance, to Filipino troops battling the Abu Sayyaf and other militants in the south since 2002. Two coast guard cutters from the U.S. have been turned into its biggest naval vessels, and Aquino said last month that the Philippines would be getting its first new fighter jets in nearly a decade next year.
___
AP photographers on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1ox8vgG
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.