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Philippine Army Pattern (PHILARPAT)
Former AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr. wearing the Philippine Army Pattern Battle Dress Uniform, while awarding a medal to a Philippine Navy operator, 2024
Type	military camouflage pattern
Place of origin	Philippines (PHILARPAT) Canada (CAMOPAT; see Dispute with Hyperstealth)
Service history
In service	2016 - present
Used by	Philippine Army See Derivations
Wars	Marawi siege New People's Army rebellion ISIS insurgency (Philippines) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
Production history
Designer	Research and Development Center, Philippine Army (PHILARPAT)
Designed	ca. 2016 (PHILARPAT)
Produced	2016 - present
Variants	Philippine Navy Pattern (PHILNAVPAT) Philippine Air Force Pattern (PhilAirPat)

The Philippine Army Pattern (PHILARPAT) is the current standard issue camouflage pattern utilized by the Armed Forces of the Philippines since 2016. It is a four-color, high contrast disruptive pattern with irregular markings of beige, light green, dark green, and black.

It is primarily used by the Philippine Army, as the name suggests, but has long been derived as well by the two other branches of service of the AFP, the Philippine Navy, and the Philippine Air Force, using their respective colorways.

In local military nomenclature, the term (i.e. acronym) PHILARPAT has been embraced to collectively refer to the camouflage pattern, and the entire uniform system using such camouflage pattern.

From the early 1950s, the Armed Forces of the Philippines utilized combat uniforms printed in a variety of camouflage patterns for its personnel, from the reversible "duck hunter" pattern used by US Marines during World War II, to Rhodesian Brushstroke (locally referred to as the "seven colors" pattern), to Vietnamese Tigerstripes, to surplus M81 Woodland Battle Dress Uniforms, to a local woodland reproduction of the British Disruptive Pattern Material used since the early 1990s.^[1] The uniform system where these patterns were utilized is locally referred to as the Battle Dress Attire (BDA); the BDA has always been tailored using the cut of the jungle fatigues the Americans used during the Vietnam War, complete with rounded and bellowed chest, and waist pockets, and almost always used cotton twill fabric.

For nearly three decades, the BDA (more particularly the one in the DPM-derived woodland pattern) epitomized the appearance of the Filipino fighting man facing battles against Communist terrorist groups in the countryside, Islamist fundamentalists in Mindanao, private armies and armed religious cults, as well as active participation in foreign peacekeeping missions in Timor-Leste, Iraq, and Syria/Golan Heights.

Over time, the DPM-derived pattern of the BDA was rendered ineffective in combat in the dense Philippine jungles when the fabric has been heavily discolored, and almost next to useless when operating in urban environments. In addition, the rough and heavy cotton twill fabric of the uniforms rendered the soldier wearing it easily exhausted in hot and humid combat environments, despite the durability it offered. This being realized, the AFP needed to update its uniform, and the pattern it is going to be printed and tailored in, as part of its efforts to "professionalize the military"^[2] thanks to its modernization program.

PHILARPAT was developed by the Research and Development Center, Philippine Army (RDC, PA) in 2016 to replace the DPM-derived pattern used in the BDA. It consists of natural geometric shapes using a four-color combination with beige as the base color, overlapped with a light green layer, then a black layer, and a dark green layer last.^[3] The pentagonal seal of the Philippine Army is incorporated in the design (1.3cm x 1cm)^[4] as a repetitive miniature print for added proprietorship and exclusivity for the Army;^[5] one swatch of PHILARPAT must contain four such integrated Army seals.^[3]

PHILARPAT was developed by creating digital images of various jungle environments throughout the Philippines; photo simulations (i.e. samples) were created with the aid of modern graphics software, and referenced from modern, non-copyrighted camouflage patterns used by some countries.^[4] Three shade samples were shown side by side against the DPM-derived woodland pattern, and their observations formed the basis of the evaluation. Such observations were made using the methodology of a study conducted by Dutch military engineer Dr. Alexander Toet^[6], and other guidelines from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).^[4] To assess the effectiveness of camouflage ability of such shade samples, weighted average detection time of each sample against different backgrounds was determined using a statistical formula.^[5]

Three versions of PHILARPAT existed, in terms of pattern development:

• Version 1 (approved, registered/patented, and produced in August 2016) is a derivation of the commercially sold camouflage pattern CAMOPAT, by the Canadian military technology manufacturer Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corporation.
• Version 2 (produced from September to November 2016) is a modification of Version 1, with the pattern shapes are halved in scale, and another layer derived from another commercially sold camouflage pattern, MultiCam, was added on the already existing four-color pattern swatches.
• Version 3 (produced from November 2016 onwards) removed the MultiCam-derived pattern layer and moved around different sections of the pattern. This is the current version being utilized (i.e. produced) for the tailoring of various clothing articles for Army personnel.

The fabric of the pattern is composed of a beige base, in which the three other colors are then printed in overlapping succession. It is made of a nylon-cotton ("ny-co") ripstop blend with an 85-15 ratio^[3], manufactured from factories in Vietnam, and China. Compared to the thick cotton twill BDAs issued to soldiers in the past, fabrics printed with the PHILARPAT is much lighter, and more adaptive to the local terrain^[7], composed of mostly jungle and thick brush. The fabric contains Near-Infrared Reflective Technology^[8] and contains an anti-bacterial formula to protect soldiers from infection and disease, such as staphylococcus aureus, and klebsiella pneumonia.^[2][8] (akin to US Army ACUs being impregnated with permethrin^[9]).

In 2025, plans have been made between the AFP and the Philippine Textile Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PTRI) to manufacture PHILARPAT fabric locally and produce uniforms from such fabrics (referred to as the Philippine Tropical Fabric Battle Dress Uniform/PTF BDU) to support the local textile industry, while also being in compliance with Republic Act 12024 (The Self Reliant Defense Posture Act of 2024).^[10]

PHILARPAT has been registered for industrial design to the Army by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), with Registration No. 3-2016 001278.^[5][4][11] Known government-approved distributors of PHILARPAT uniforms include JEJE Enterprises (Cubao, Quezon City), UWC-UDC Joint Venture (Makati City), Goldbell-Ninesky Joint Venture, Neala Enterprises (Silang, Cavite), CK Diaz Worldwide Enterprises (City of Manila), and CS Volts Military Supply (Camp Crame, Quezon City), among others.

When PHILARPAT fabric is sewn into actual articles of clothing, it is now then referred to as the Philippine Army Pattern Battle Dress Uniform (PAPBDU, or PHILARPAT BDU). Although due to nomenclature confusion, the entire uniform system is collectively referred to within military circles as PHILARPAT, similar to how Filipino soldiers referred to the DPM-derived woodland camouflage pattern as the "BDA Pattern".

When worn by selected personnel (i.e. commissioned officers) of the Navy, the Air Force, and the various Technical Administrative Services (TAS) Brigades of the AFP, the PAPBDU is then referred to as the One AFP BDU.^[12] The usage of the PAPBDU by the Navy, and the Air Force stopped, albeit gradual, when they adopted their respective camouflage patterns, and the One AFP BDU nomenclature faded into use.

As per Quartermaster records of the Philippine Army, the PAPBDU system officially consists of four elements^[3][13]:

• Coat, Long Sleeves - the coat is tailored into a cut similar to the US ACU (complete with a bi-swing back), with a double-purpose collar which can be converted from a sports-style collar into a Mandarin collar, and vice versa. The coat features slanted breast pockets protected by a top flap with a hook-and-loop closure, with an integrated side-opening zipper pocket. The front closure is fastened through buttons and covered with a fly reminiscent of the older BDA coats. The sleeves are tailored on each side with reinforced elbow panels, and shoulder pockets with hook-and-loop panels reserved for shoulder sleeve insignias. The sleeve on the wearer's left discreetly contains a two-pocket pen slot. The cuffs, and the waist are both adjusted and secured through hook-and-loop fasteners. Hook-and-loop panels found on the right, left, and center of the coat are reserved for the affixing of the soldier's nametape, measuring 1in x 5in (wearer's right), a 1in x 5in branch of service tape (wearer's left), and a 1in x 2.5in embroidered rank insignia patch (center). The PAPBDU coat is worn with an olive-green undershirt with an "ARMY" print on the wearer's left chest (written in the Stencil typeface, stereotypical of military equipment).

• Trousers - the trousers are also tailored in a cut similar to the US ACU (complete with reinforced knee, and hip panels). It contains eight pockets (two thigh pockets, two large, slanted cargo pockets above the knee, two lower box-type pockets just above the shin, and two hip pockets) all secured with hook-and-loop fasteners. The fly is closed with a metallic zipper and secured with a single BDA-style button. The PAPBDU trousers have two buckled straps (reminiscent of the ones used in the US BDU) stitched on either side of the waistband and are used as waistline adjusting tabs, in case the soldier needs to adjust the waistline before wearing a belt, which is laced through five two-inch belt loops.
• Patrol Cap (referred in AFP nomenclature as Ball Cap) - the cap is tailored in the style of the US BDU, and subsequently, the ACU. It consists of a circular top hood (i.e. crown) with a headband stiffener. The seal of the Philippine Army is stitched at the center of the crown; commissioned officers (with pay grades of O-1 to O-10) can take the liberty of removing (or "debadging") the Army insignia from the Ball Cap and have their rank insignia stitched in its place instead. The Ball Cap is available in various sizes, measured through the circumference of the soldier's head in centimeters (e.g. a Ball Cap made in "Size 57" is made for a soldier whose head circumference is 57 centimeters).
• Sun Hat/Boonie Hat (referred in AFP nomenclature as Lousy Hat) - just like the Ball Cap, the Lousy Hat is tailored in the style with the ones issued with the US BDU, and ACU. It consists of a wide brim of two-inches wide, with a crown constructed in the same manner as the Ball Cap. The crown is then stitched with a one-inch nylon green webbing looped around it, which is used to tuck in vegetation for camouflage and concealment. The Lousy Hat is suspended to the soldier's head with a nylon rope with a plastic size adjustment stopper. It is also available in various sizes, measured through the circumference of the soldier's head in centimeters (e.g. a Lousy Hat made in "Size 57" is made for a soldier whose head circumference is 57 centimeters).

Certain amendments were made throughout the development and manufacture of the PAPBDU, the latest being from 2025.^[8]

• Coat breast pockets - the zippered pockets accessed on the side were removed; the breast pockets are now straightforwardly plain.
• Trouser lower pockets - the two box-type pockets near the shin of the trousers were removed; newer-production PAPBDU trousers now only contain six pockets, similar to the old BDA trousers.
• Philippine Army branch insignia - The first version of the Army insignia to be used with the PAPBDU is carried from what was initially used with the BDA, which is the pentagonal with a triangle on the inside, with three stars and a sun with a superimposed Baybayin letter ka. It is amended that a circular patch depicting the full seal of the Army, complete with the name of the branch in Filipino, "HUKBONG KATIHAN NG PILIPINAS" is to be used for uniformity purposes within the Army establishment, as well as with the other two branches of the AFP. This amendment is reflected for use in the shoulder sleeve insignia, and the Ball Cap insignia.
• Waist belt - The first approved version of the belt to be used with the PAPBDU trousers is made from two-inch nylon webbing strap in green, with a metallic black buckle reminiscent to those manufactured by American military apparel brand 5.11 Tactical. Stitched near the buckle is a small circular Army seal. It was later changed with a much softer two-inch nylon webbing strap, now with the "ARMY" wordmark repetitively written throughout the length of the belt and now features a different buckle shape.
• Combat boots - Plain olive-green leather boots were prescribed for field use since 2014^[14]; this will later be replaced with lighter suede boots five years later.^[15] Boots manufactured with a nylon canvas upper printed with PHILARPAT exist and are privately procured by soldiers, but this is not approved by the Army Quartermaster Service.

The sizing system of the PAPBDU system heavily follows the sizing nomenclature of the uniforms used by the US Armed Forces, starting with the chest/waist width (X-Small, Small, Medium, Large, X-Large), then the height/length (Short, Regular, and Long).^[a] In 2025, the X-Small width was amended and reassigned into the X-Short height category.^[8]

The measurements follow the imperial system and are accustomed to average body sizes of Filipinos.

There are other individual equipment approved for release by the Army Quartermaster Service that are manufactured using PHILARPAT fabric, such as a chest rig (in the style of the US Army's Ranger Assault Carrying Kit/RACK), and a hydration bladder.

Other accoutrements, such as helmet covers, combat shirts (reminiscent of the US Army Combat Shirt, and the FROG suits of the USMC), backpacks, duffel bags/deployment bags, ponchos, hammocks, polyester face covers and neck gaiters (referred locally as "tube masks"), load-bearing vests aside from aforementioned copy of the RACK, and combat boots with an upper using a pure nylon PHILARPAT fabric have been seen procured by military personnel through private tailoring firms such as DAYO, Tribe, Steven Chua, and GearMax, sometimes using inferior quality PHILARPAT fabric manufactured in China. These are not considered official individual equipment by the AFP, if Quartermaster records are to be made the sole basis.

The (actual) story of PHILARPAT goes back to 2007, when a Canadian-based military technology manufacturer, Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corporation, developed CAMOPAT, a camouflage pattern designed by request of Canadian Special Forces. When Hyperstealth made CAMOPAT available for military, law enforcement, and civilian/outdoor use and purchase one year later, one of the prospective clients to adopt it happened to be the Philippine Air Force.^[16] In 2010, the PAF began working with Hyperstealth for possible adoption of CAMOPAT for its personnel but was put on hold by the Department of National Defense for unspecified reasons.

Fast forward to 2015, it was now the Philippine Army who approached Hyperstealth to procure them "a superior pattern" to their uniform, as they have been made aware of the deal they had with the PAF five years prior. Hyperstealth's President and CEO, Guy Cramer, surveyed various environments throughout the Philippines for the optimal colorways to be used for the Army's version of CAMOPAT to produce cloth samples to be made into sample uniforms. When compared side by side with the DPM-derived woodland pattern used in the old BDAs, the PA CAMOPAT stood out as the more effective pattern in all aspects.^[16] Cramer was then invited in November-December of the same year to meet with the Commanding General of the Army at the time, Lieutenant General Eduardo Ano, to further discuss the possible adoption of CAMOPAT for the Army establishment wholesale.

During such meetings, Cramer disclosed that the PA CAMOPAT was allowed to be printed in a factory in Vietnam, as there is an existing memorandum of understanding between the Philippines and Vietnam for projects such as this. After further field trials, Cramer was informed that the Army expressed their desire to have the pattern be exclusively licensed to the AFP.

In 2016, Cramer was asked to register the PA CAMOPAT for a Philippine copyright, as well as a Philippine patent, the former being submitted to the Department of Justice, and the latter to the Bureau of Patents, IPOPHL on June 6. The copyright was granted on August 22.^[16]

One day later, the AFP began to release images of the PA CAMOPAT on the internet; these images were that of top officers (including the Chief of Staff of the AFP during that time, General Ricardo Visaya) wearing the initial batch of uniforms printed in the PA CAMOPAT pattern, as part of the field trials conducted earlier. Similar trial uniforms were also distributed to selected Army units.^[7]

The next month, the Army announced that they are switching their camouflage patterns into the PA CAMOPAT. Although upon realization, it appeared that the pattern being shown on local media outlets was different from what Cramer submitted for approval in the Philippines.^[16] Cramer was later informed that the Army had come up with their own pattern, aptly called the Philippine Army Pattern (PHILARPAT). Cramer concluded that the Army has copied and modified the PA CAMOPAT that was approved for production, as they did not want to pay royalties to Hyperstealth, with the Army deciding that they can do the production themselves.

By September 30, the Army released Version 2 of PHILARPAT, again taking the pattern from the PA CAMOPAT produced by Hyperstealth and modifying it with an Adobe Photoshop filter, then overlaid one layer of another commercial camouflage pattern, MultiCam, in an attempt to make it look different from the initial version released the previous month. Cramer opines that should the Army proceeded with the usage of the PA CAMOPAT with royalties, it would cost them one hundred Philippine pesos less, compared to the usage of the "copycat" version (i.e. PHILARPAT).^[16]

By October 27, Cramer, accompanied with representatives of the Canadian Embassy, asked for another meeting with Lieutenant General Ano, but was unable to make the meeting. Ano's staff met with Cramer on his behalf, and a 16-page confidential report was presented, arguing that PHILARPAT (specifically Version 2):

• violated the copyright of CAMOPAT, and its variations,
• infringed the Philippine patent of the PA CAMOPAT, and
• infringed the copyright of MultiCam, and its manufacturer, Crye Precision.

Despite reasons of "national security", the Canadian Embassy staff did not accept such explanation in an effort to circumnavigate copyright and patent claims, informing Ano's staff that such explanation only applies to Philippine citizens/corporations who developed/invented something critical for national defense. In addition, Cramer argued with Ano's staff that if it is royalties he is after, he could have just waited for the Army to infringe on the CAMOPAT trademark before taking legal action, as penalties are much larger to pay than royalties, all the while attempting to get the Army establishment out of "a much larger mess" (i.e. a potential legal standoff). After this meeting, the Army "indefinitely postponed" the tender inviting bidders to submit competitive offers for production and manufacture of the fabrics and subsequent uniforms and equipment.^[16]

By November 25, it came to Cramer's attention that the Army had authorized production of 2,000 sets of the PAPBDU; this time, Version 3 of the PHILARPAT was printed on these sets, removing the MultiCam-inspired layer from Version 2, and made other modifications around the entire pattern.^[16] Cramer insisted that every time he challenged the Army for copyright violations, they just worked around by creating different versions of the Philippine camouflage pattern in question.

Cramer listed the following notes as to how he can confirm, and prove that the Army establishment has indeed copied the CAMOPAT he authorized to produce for them to create PHILARPAT^[16]:

• some similar shapes are seen used on both patterns, which is odd as CAMOPAT's pattern shapes are unique to its own pattern family, which is among around 14,000 other camouflage patterns that Hyperstealth has produced since their foundation in 1999; in addition, PHILARPAT's shapes are reduced in scale. Cramer opines that this reduction has removed most of the pattern's ability to break down the human shape/outline, making identification (i.e. acquisition of target) by the enemy much easier;
• the small elements (i.e. micropatterns) in CAMOPAT (as a camouflage pattern family) are not composed of squares and rectangles with sharp corners; instead, they are smooth and are always surrounded with a border in the second brightest color of the colorway used; PHILARPAT has done the same with their micropatterns, especially in Version 3;
• in terms of color, PHILARPAT used the same colorway as the PA CAMOPAT, but reducing the color percentage of the tan/beige, and black by less than 0.1%; in Version 3 of PHILARPAT, it contained 2.8% more browns and blacks, and 3.2% less of the tans/beiges; this, Cramer argued, reduced the effectiveness of the pattern against its impact in near-infrared optical devices.

With these notes, Cramer pointed out that "copying a pattern and reducing the scale does not constitute a new original pattern" and "modifying a pattern while retaining a similar look does not create a new work".^[16] He also emphasized that the Army not only violated international intellectual property laws, but also Philippine IP laws, as the one copyrighted and patented by IPOPHL is the PA CAMOPAT. Despite such conflict with the Army regarding copyright and royalty agreements, Cramer said that, as of 2019, his company is continuing to work with the Navy, and the Air Force on development of camouflage patterns for the two branches of the AFP.^[16]

Currently, the PA CAMOPAT is listed in the Hyperstealth website for sale under the name CAMOPAT Jungle.^[17]

The Philippine Navy uses a variation of the Hyperstealth's CAMOPAT called CAMOPAT Light Urban^[16][17], but without permission and license. This unauthorized version is known inside military circles as the Philippine Navy Pattern (PHILNAVPAT). It uses a colorway of various shades of gray, as well as black, matching the hull colors of the ships the Navy possessed at the time^[16]; the sealion seen on the seal of the Navy is integrated on the pattern, akin to what the Army did with PHILARPAT. It was adopted around 2018, and is used in their latest uniform system, called the Sailor's Battle Dress Uniform (SBDU).

Black combat boots are prescribed to be worn with the SBDU. The insignias attached on the SBDU's coat are detailed in black and subdued in gray.

As the first (and original) prospective customer of CAMOPAT in 2010, the Philippine Air Force were authorized by Hyperstealth to wear a darker gray version of CAMOPAT^[16] called CAMOPAT Dark Urban^[17], consisting of a colorway of green, black, and light green on a light grey background, simulating the color of the PAF's fleet of aircraft, and the tarmacs of air bases. But just a decade later, the PAF shifted to using Version 3 of PHILARPAT (albeit using their proprietary colorway), also to avoid paying royalties to Hyperstealth. This pattern, and the uniform system it is printed on, is known inside the Air Force establishment as the Philippine Air Force Pattern (PhilAirPat).

Tan combat boots are prescribed to be worn with the PhilAirPat. The insignias attached to the coat are detailed and subdued in gray.