Loyalty check not needed - AFP
Manila, Philippines – A loyalty check among the military ranks is not warranted as allegiance to the Constitution and the flag remain solid, a spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Tuesday.
“Buo po ang inyong Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas. Kami po ay solid at disciplined organization and we remain professional through all this. Our loyalty remains with the Constitution and to our Philippine flag,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla told a press briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
[TRANSLATION: Your Armed Forces of the Philippines is solid, a disciplined organization, and we remain professional through all this.]
The remarks were in response to journalists’ query on the military view after Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday said that the Marcos government has become “unstable.”
Last week, the military issued a string of warnings against what it described as an “outright lie,” a post that circulated online about an alleged coup plot against President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. involving the military’s top brass and the US Central Intelligence Agency. Another post maliciously linked the military to a former aide of Zaldy Co who quit his party-list seat at the House of Representatives amid a deepening probe on graft in public works.
“He is already a retired Marine so his actions, his statements, testimonies are purely his own and does not reflect the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Padilla said, referring to the Senate testimony of ex-Marine Orly Guteza who retired from service on June 30, 2020, four years before he was hired by Co as a security aide.
“We strongly deny these baseless stories. They are nothing but digital smoke,” the AFP spokesperson pointed out.
Speculations are rife that some quarters are financing this spread of coup rumors to undermine the military’s territorial defense of the West Philippine Sea.
“Amid all of this noise, your AFP remains committed to ensuring the integrity of the national territory,” Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, told the same press briefing on Tuesday.
“We don’t have to look far. The question is who stands to benefit if we have an unstable government. I think the answer is clear,” the navy official said.
RETIRED GENERALS
Retired Gen. Edilberto Adan, representing the Association of General and Flag Officers (AGFO), said the sentiments of a few retired generals who led the recent protests do not reflect the majority.
Adan said AGFO, along with nine other groups, held a meeting on Sept. 19 with President Marcos who he said heard the AGFO recommendations including a higher pay-scale for the military and uniformed personnel. The retired military officers also presented a manifesto expressing support for Marcos’ pronouncements against corruption.
“Those were not demands. Those were concerns,” Adan clarified.
Joining the meeting were Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr., he said.
“Yung mga retiradong opisyal na lihis ang pananaw, tumatawag ng activities and actions that defy the Constitution, yan ay hindi sinusuportahan ng karamihan including ng mga retirado,” Adan told reporters also on Tuesday at Camp Aguinaldo.
[TRANSLATION: Those retired officials whose perspectives are not aligned with our duty, calling for activities and actions that defy the Constitution, they do not have the support of the majority, including the retired uniformed personnel.]
“As officers, our hearts still beat for our active soldiers. Ramdam namin [We empathize with them],” he said, referring to China’s aggressions against the Philippine Coast Guard and the military during resupply missions to the West Philippine Sea.
