#182: Special Operations In The Pacific - Philippine's Joint Special Operations Command Commander Brigadier General Eliglen Villaflor

America is not the only nation in a fight for freedom, stability, and security. International threats are complex, the missions are critical, and the operators leading them must think globally while acting locally. The Philippines is one of America’s longest strategic allies. From their geographical importance of World War II, to their front lines combating Chinese expansion in the Pacific, the military partnership between the United States and the Philippines is an important part of global stability. At the heart of this collaboration, is the Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. A force that has been shaped by decades of counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and close partnership with America's Green Berets and Special Operations Forces. From the Global Special Operations Foundation Symposium https://gsofeurope.org/ in Athens, Greece, Fran Racioppi https://www.linkedin.com/in/francisracioppijr/ sat down with the Commander of Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Brigadier General Eliglen Villaflor https://www.afp.mil.ph/news/strategic-overhaul-afp-strengthens-special-operations-for-enhanced-jointness, to discuss the evolution of Special Operations in the Philippines, the lessons learned from years of conflict, and the country’s expanding role in regional and international security cooperation. General Villaflor shared his perspective on leading through complexity, building true interoperability with partners like the United States, and preparing the next generation of Filipino Special Operators to face an ever-changing threat environment. This episode is about partnership, professionalism, and the shared mission that connects Special Operations Forces around the world to defend freedom wherever it’s challenged. Highlights 0:00 Introduction1:45 Welcome to GSOF Europe 20253:30 Mission of Philippines Joint Special Operations Command5:28 JSOC Commander Challenges8:21 Large Scale Combat Operations in the Philippines11:48 Building relationships in SOF15:54 Philippine Armed Forces Culture18:22 Interoperability in the Philippines19:33 Philippines’ biggest threat23:31 Future of JSOC Philippines Quotes “We’re a family.”“The Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was formally activated just last May.”“I am the force employer.”“The challenges will outweigh the positive impact of having JSOC.”“The engagement with the U. S. counterpart has been more aggressive than before.” “Our core mission is to work with other nations to achieve the combined goals of our nations.”“I’m very glad I was given the opportunity to train with foreign counterparts, especially the U. S.”“SOF are not only building trust, we are building family. We are family and we take care of each other.”“People mostly join the Armed Forces because of low economic status.”“I want to avail of the free education.”“We are always leader centered.”“We are now inculcating in our culture the word interoperability.”"Aggressive, illegal, dangerous, and coercive action of China is very visible in our country.”“It’s still all about the mindset, attitude, and discipline.” Special thanks to the Global Special Operations Foundation https://gsof.org/ for hosting us in Athens. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast https://www.instagram.com/jedburghpodcast/ and the Green Beret Foundation https://www.instagram.com/greenberetfoundation/ on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform https://pod.link/1558608802, read on our website https://greenberetfoundation.org/the-jedburgh-podcast/, and watch the full video version on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@jedburghpodcast as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Fran Racioppi?

  America is not the only nation in a fight for freedom, stability, and security. International threats are complex, the missions are critical, and the operators leading them must think globally while acting locally. The Philippines is one of America's longest-standing allies. From their geographical importance in World War II to their front lines combating Chinese expansion in the Pacific, the military partnership between the United States and the Philippines is an important part of global stability. At the heart of this collaboration is the Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a force that has been shaped by decades of counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and close partnership with America's Green Berets and Special Operations Forces.

• 0:44Fran Racioppi?

  From the Global Special Operations Foundation Symposium in Athens, Greece, I sat down with the Commander of Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Brigadier General Glenn Villaflor, to discuss the evolution of special operations in the Philippines, the lessons learned from years of conflict, and the country's expanding role in regional and international security cooperation. General Villaflor shared his perspective on leading through complexity, building true interoperability with partners like the United States, and preparing the next generation of Filipino special operators to face an ever-changing threat environment. This episode is about partnership, professionalism, and the shared mission that connects special operations forces around the world to defend freedom wherever its challenge. Special thanks to the Global Special Operations Foundation for hosting us in Athens.

• 1:27Fran Racioppi?

  Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show you why America must continue to lead from the front no matter the challenge. General Villaflor, welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast.

• 1:46Speaker 01

  Thank you, Fran, and thank you for having me in this Jedburgh Podcast. And this is my first time to be in a podcast.

• 1:54Fran Racioppi?

  Well, I'm excited because we're here, we're at GSOF Europe 2025, we're in Athens, Greece. We sequestered you for the next little bit to really dig into what's going on with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. You're the commander of their JSOC, their Joint Special Operations Command.

• 2:11Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 2:12Fran Racioppi?

  Longtime partner of the US. On the Jedburgh Podcast, we have spent the last five years talking about US SOF. And what does it mean to be and serve in American Special Operations Forces? And in so many of those episodes, we talk about this concept of by, with, and through. How America partners with their allies to develop capability across the world? And then work together to go out and combat our mutual enemies. But in that time, we've never had anyone representing a partner or an ally on this show. So this might be your first on the Jedburgh Podcast, but this is our first to sit down with an ally.

• 2:57Fran Racioppi?

  But also one of America's longtime, most strategic allies in the Philippines. So it is an honor, sir, to have you.

• 3:04Speaker 01

  No, it's an honor for me also and a privilege to be with you today. And as you've said, we are longtime ally. We are defense treaty partner with US for more than 70 years. Lots of history, lots of trust, relationship. Actually, we're family.

• 3:22Fran Racioppi?

  Well, let's talk about the command that you sit in charge of today. And that's the Philippine Joint Special Operations Command.

• 3:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:31Fran Racioppi?

  What is Philippines Joint Special Operations Command? How's it constructed and what's the mission?

• 3:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, the Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was formally activated just last May. Like the Greek Armed Forces, Hellenic Republic Armed Forces, Philippines before is like a single service SOF. Since after the World War II, we've been combating communism, insurgency, transnational terrorism, jihadists, separatists, but there's

• 4:04Speaker 01

  No really joint command that was established. We tried on the army side, but it was disbanded even before it became into a full maturity. In 2018, A F Armed Forces of the Philippines SOCOM was established for the purpose of join us. But the objective wasn't achieved. But with the strategic shift of our Department of National Defense of our country, to be responsive to the comprehensive archipelagic defense concept, it led to the creation of J Soc. So what's J Soc? Basically, I'm an employer, you know, to execute the strategic objective of the Department of National Defense. I have with me attached a special operations forces from the Navy,

• 4:50Speaker 01

  from the Army, from the Air Force and from the Marines. So SOF from major services are force providers. I am the force employer. I receive mission from the president, who is also the commander in chief, and from the chief of staff of the Armed Forces. We call him, he's the chief of our defense. So we execute strategic mission, high-profile, high-value mission.

• 5:14Fran Racioppi?

  As you've stood this command up and you, you're an army guy.

• 5:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:18Fran Racioppi?

  So you speak army.

• 5:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:20Fran Racioppi?

  But now you gotta figure out, how am I gonna speak Navy? And how am I gonna bring in the Marines? What have been some of the biggest opportunities that you've seen over the last several months? But also some of the challenges when you bring together these disparate forces under a single commander?

• 5:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, although I'm army, I'm a special forces. So operating in land, air and water is not new to me. I've been operating with other major services SOF. When I was a battalion commander in Southern Philippines, where the height of, you know, terrorism, Abu Sayyaf, ISIS group were operating. But right now, as a J Soc commander, although there's a big opportunity for J Soc, challenges is always there. I also believe that it's very common in all Armed Forces, especially that, you know, major. Services commanders tend to hold on to their major services of SOF middle with the

• 6:20Speaker 01

  uh conduct of operations but uh the challenges will outweigh the uh positive impact of having JSOC right it's just a matter of time in in every uh changing organization there's always a first resistance to change right then uh eventually we will achieve that uh support uh understanding towards the change

• 6:44Fran Racioppi?

  so you mentioned some of the operations that you've been a part of over your career historically post world war two and you know as we've gone I'd say over the last 20 plus years the Philippines like the United States and much of the world has been very focused on counterterrorism operations we had a chance you and I to be on the panel earlier upstairs in front of all of GSOF with one of your colleagues from Poland General drumovich who is leading the Polish Armed Forces in their fight against the Russians and Russian aggression in Eastern Europe but we talked about the fact that counterterrorism and terrorist groups have dominated so much of

• 7:25Fran Racioppi?

  the landscape especially since nine eleven however over the last several years we have seen nation-states global superpowers great nations of great status are now demonstrating significant aggression across the world for you it's been China and China's push into what they term the South China Sea you corrected me earlier have a different term for that area of the world and also their intentions that they've made known to one day potentially reunify Taiwan with China so you as you've stood up the command have had to now also shift a bit of your focus from CT which

• 8:07Fran Racioppi?

  does still exist but now into what we've termed large-scale combat operations how do we combat nation-states who are peer enemies how have you started to change that mindset and integrate the large-scale combat operation reality into a multitude of forces who are coming together as once but by and large are have been very focused on counterterrorism

• 8:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, thank you for that question. JSOC is not leaving behind city effort. It's still in our core competency. But with the strategic shift of our Defense Department, we are compelled to perform mission essential tasks on internal security operations, on conducting irregular warfare against adversaries. It's good that we have our longtime ally, US, helping us. Last year, I was able to speak with the former JSOC commander. He's now the US SOCOM commander, Admiral Bradley. I frankly admitted to him that Sir JSOC will become JSOC a few months from now. Since I was a lieutenant,

• 9:15Speaker 01

  I've been confronting internal security operations, counterterrorism. And now the missions given to me is maritime domain awareness, territorial defense operations, which is very, very foreign to me. So I asked his help. I asked the US assistance on it. And I appreciate his reply. He said, "We are longtime partners. We can do a lot of coaching to you." He used the word "coaching," which I really like. It's really happening since then, until now. The engagement with the US counterpart has been more aggressive than before, and also engagement with allied nations and partner nations. So how do we do? How are we doing what we are doing in preparing for a bigger scale?

• 10:00Speaker 01

  So we engage in more bilateral exercises, multilateral exercises, focusing on interoperability, jointness, and combined operations.

• 10:12Fran Racioppi?

  You brought up your conversations with Admiral Bradley, now the US SOCOM commander. And what I think about is forums like this. Global Soft Foundation is bringing everybody together to discuss interoperability. You referenced working over your career with American Special Operations Forces and working with our partners is a key component. That's really the core mission. When we talked about counterterrorism, and a lot of people will say to me, "Oh, you were a Green Beret." Kick down doors and it's like actually no, I train others to kick down doors. That's our core mission and our core mission is to work with other nations to achieve the combined goals of our nations.

• 10:54Fran Racioppi?

  But with that comes really trust and respect. And one of the uniquenesses of all SOF that we see displayed here is that you can be a junior officer or a junior non-commissioned officer and you have a counterpart in another nation and you're going to meet each other and young in your career. And then you're going to parallel track each other and run into each other time and time again and eventually become generals and sergeant majors and build this relationship on a personal level that then helps achieve the strategic effect. Can you talk about the relationships that you've been able to build with foreign leaders to be able to now as you sit in command of JSOC, leverage those relationships to bring

• 11:39Fran Racioppi?

  value to your organization?

• 11:40Speaker 01

  Oh, I'm just very glad that I had given the opportunity to train with foreign counterparts, especially with US. When I was a captain, I was sent to Fort Benning. I had classmates from the US Army and more than 20 other guys from different parts of the world. As I go up my career, I had other trainings and then participated in fora like this, symposiums. And you know what? Yesterday, I was able to meet a two-star general from Greek Armed Forces and he knows my Greek classmates when I was in Fort Benning. They became major generals and we were talking to each other by phone and I ran through

• 12:20Speaker 01

  some of the guys whom I met long before and you know, the barrier was immediately broken. It's like we were long-lost friend, family. And this relationship really builds trust. And I would like to borrow the word of General Brian Fenton, the former US SOCOM. I said SOF are not only building trust, we are building family. We are family and we take care of each other.

• 12:47Fran Racioppi?

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• 13:04Fran Racioppi?

  Your support fuels their recovery, helping them return to duty or continue serving their communities. A Green Berets mission never stops. Neither should our support. Join the 1952 Society today and stand with those who stand for us.

• 13:19Fran Racioppi?

  Yeah, you see that on display here and in all regions of the world that we operate in. Talk for a second about your career. Everybody's got to make a choice when they decide to come into the military. I come from the US. So we have a, as culturally, we have a very pro-military culture. I'm a 9/11, we call a 9/11 baby. So 9/11 happened, I was a junior in college. I kind of had to decide, am I going to be a reporter? Or am I going to go follow these guys with beards and long hair, riding horses through the desert of Afghanistan, change in the world? So we all have this decision to make for various reasons. But I'm interested in your decision to join the Armed Forces of the Philippines. And also, what's the culture in the Philippines around national defense

• 14:04Fran Racioppi?

  and around joining the military in general?

• 14:07Speaker 01

  Well, it's different. In the Philippines, usually people who join the Armed Forces because they want to join is because they have a lineage of military history. Grandfather, father, or brother is from the military. But mostly, join the Armed Forces is because of a very, should I say, low economic status. In my case, I came from a big family, brood of 13, and I was a fatherless at the age of seven. And it's my dream to be able to finish college, because none of my older brothers and sisters were able to finish college. So I tried scholarship, but it's not enough. Then I saw the poster of Philippine

• 14:50Speaker 01

  Military Academy. I was already a second year college, taking up engineering. And it says there, "If you want free education, join the Philippine Military Academy." So that caption caught my attention, and I applied. I took the exam. I entered the academy when I was interviewed. Why do you want to become a cadet? I said, I want to avail of the free education. Maybe the military was so successful in brainwashing me. I learned to love the military and it's deep in my heart to pay back for what I received from the government through the military academy. And up to now, I'm still grateful. I had so many opportunities offered to me to leave the service for greener pasture,

• 15:33Speaker 01

  but I said, no, I have to stick to the service and pay back to the government.

• 15:38Fran Racioppi?

  Sergeant Major Mike Wymer, he's a sergeant major of the US Army. We've had a chance to build a great relationship with him over the years. And he calls it compliance to commitment.

• 15:48Speaker 01

  Compliance to commitment.

• 15:49Fran Racioppi?

  So you join the army and you're compliant. They told me to dress this way. They tell me to cut my hair, shave my face, do this. And you do it because someone tells you to do it. But over time, you do it because you'll want to. And you do it because it's the right thing to do. And you're completely committed to the cause.

• 16:05Speaker 01

  Exactly. That's how it is.

• 16:07Fran Racioppi?

  What's the culture of the armed forces of the Philippines? How would you assess that culture? And I'll put it in the context of the fact that we've got a bit of a generational change that's going on, especially within the US military, where we have three generations in the ranks right now. We have a generation of senior leaders who served prior to 9/11 and the global war on terror and then led at the tactical strategic levels during the bulk of their service in GWAT. And then we have people like me who came in for GWAT. They're at retirement age right now, or they're becoming senior leaders. And then you have a whole new generation of folks who US perspective is that

• 16:51Fran Racioppi?

  they weren't even born on 9/11, when the world changed, especially for America. And so we've got to balance these three cultures, who are all very distinct. When you look across your formation, what do you see in the culture of the ranks? And how are you bringing up and really emboldening the next generation behind you to take the helm?

• 17:12Speaker 01

  Well, um, in the Philippines, the situation is not really like that. Maybe because of our culture as well. We are kind of, you call it a hierarchical. So it's always leader-centered. It goes down to the family also. We are patriarchal. So what the father, what the leader says is what's being followed. So there's also a lot of influence from the leader of the family, leader of the organization. Somehow, the influence of social media reached the consciousness of the Philippines and maybe all over the world. And I think the culture will change somehow.

• 17:54Fran Racioppi?

  Well, social media is impacting everyone in the world.

• 17:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:57Fran Racioppi?

  So for better or worse, I don't know. It depends where you fall on that. I want to ask you about interoperability. And we talked about it a little bit on the panel earlier today. But interoperability gets thrown around a lot, especially in forums like this, where we could walk through the showroom floor here and you see technology of everything that you could imagine sitting over here. But at the end of the day, different countries have different capabilities. They favor different technologies over others. But when we come together to operate as a combined force, nation with nation, we got to leverage our partners and our allies' capabilities. How do you define interoperability? And as you stand up JSOC and you solidify it,

• 18:40Fran Racioppi?

  what are the capabilities that you're looking for from other countries that are going to be able to enhance your mission?

• 18:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, we are now inculcating in our culture the word interoperability, not only with our ally, but also within the armed forces of the Philippines. So we see to it that in our capability development program, we see to it there's an office overseeing it, ensuring that what we buy, what we procure, is interoperable with other major services. And in the soft side, on our side, we see to it also that our capability development is interoperable with our ally, with our partner nations. Especially US. There's a program by the US. It's the Building Partners Capacity, Foreign Military Support Program.

• 19:31Speaker 01

  And we ensure that this equipment is interoperable with our ally. And also training. We've never been so active in training as compared to before. Right now with the US, especially with the US.

• 19:46Fran Racioppi?

  Yeah. What do you see as the biggest threat to the Philippines right now?

• 19:50Speaker 01

  In the JU political theater, it's China. Aggressive, illegal, dangerous, and coercive action of China is very visible in our country. They've been doing information operations and gray zone tactics. Some of it we term United Front Works. They are infiltrating our government agencies, our communities, and our business sector. So they're everywhere. They are there. And it's good that SOF is there also to expose the support system used by China in our country.

• 20:27Fran Racioppi?

  So one more question for you.

• 20:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:29Fran Racioppi?

  As you stand in front of your formation as the JSOC commander and you look at the threats posed by China, you look at the opportunities to bring interoperability in your force to partner with allied nations like the US. You have a vision for the future. You have a vision for what JSOC's gonna look like in two, three, five years, however long your term as the commander may last. What is that vision and what's the call to action that you have for the soldiers within your formation? Soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors within your formation?

• 21:03Speaker 01

  As I've said during the panel, it is always every commander's dream to have the latest technology, to have the latest capability in your arsenal. But I would like to emphasize to my men that it's still all about mindset. It's all about the attitude, the discipline. Because even though you have all this technology, all this equipment, it's still the human capital, still the person that operates this equipment. So it's still the mindset. The discipline that really counts on all of this.

• 21:36Fran Racioppi?

  Special Operations Force.

• 21:37Speaker 01

  The Special Operations Way.

• 21:38Fran Racioppi?

  Special Operations Force is truth number one.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:41Fran Racioppi?

  People are more important than hardware and it doesn't matter what nation you're from. That's the reality. You gotta have good people.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  That's it, Fran. Thank you.

• 21:48Fran Racioppi?

  Can throw everything at it, but good people will operate good and bad equipment better.

• 21:53Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 21:54Fran Racioppi?

  That's the reality of it. Well, sir, I appreciate you taking time to spend with me here and talk about your vision for the organization. Also, very much appreciate you sitting on the panel with me earlier today. We didn't meet before today, but in true soft fashion, we hit it off in two seconds. And I feel like when I come to the Philippines, I'm gonna have a friend and a phone number that I can call him. You know that if you come to New York, you better look me up because I'm gonna come find you and we're gonna spend some time together.

• 22:21Speaker 01

  Thank you for that. Thank you, Fran. Thank you for having me.

• 22:23Fran Racioppi?

  Thank you.

• 22:24Speaker 01

  It's a pleasure.

• 22:26Speaker 03

  American Jedbergs went on to form the foundation of the United States Special Forces and the Special Activities Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Thanks for listening to the Jedburgh Podcast, an official program of the Green Beret Foundation. I'm your creator and host, Fran Rich Open. Join us next week for a new episode on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check us out on YouTube for full episodes, highlights, and other long and short form content. If you like what you heard, give us a like and leave a review. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Extra Threads. Send your comments and inquiries to Fran at Jedburgh Podcast dot com. As former members of Special Operations Forces, the Jedburgh Media Channel and the Green Beret Foundation remain committed to supporting all generations of US Army Special Forces and their families.

• 23:10Speaker 03

  Thanks for joining us on this episode. How you prepare today determines success tomorrow.