General Jose Faustino Jr., Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines | via Pegeen Maisie Sararana CDN Digital Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — All personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are reminded anew to stay apolitical as the election period draws near.
It has always been the mandate to all AFP personnel to stay apolitical and never participate in any political activities and now they are again reminded to do so, said General Jose Faustino Jr, AFP chief of staff.
Faustino said that they had already instructed the group to remain professional and support the law enforcement agencies in ensuring that there would be a peaceful and orderly election next year.
In line with this, Faustino said that they also continued to monitor possible presence of private armed groups nationwide.
Faustino cited the efforts of the national government agencies including the National Task Force for the Disbandment of Private Armed Groups (NTF-DPAG) in reducing the number of private armed group in the country.
“Tuloy-tuloy ang monitoring sa ating private armed groups and na reduce na rin iyon,” Faustino said.
(We will continue our monitoring against private armed groups and these were already reduced [in number].)
Over this, Faustino said that they would continue their operations in ensuring safety nationwide as they had also enhanced their assets and capabilities for both internal and external security.
READ: AFP chief of staff says threat of CPP-NPA dwindling