General Andres Centino, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), commended the efforts of all the militrart personnel on Friday, May 13, in ensuring a peaceful and orderly elections.
“I commend all our personnel who dutifully performed our mandate to ensure peaceful and credible elections. You have excellently done your part so that there will be no disruptions during the elections. Thank you for doing your duties very well,” Centino said in a statement.
The AFP has an extended duty to protect the sanctity of the ballot as a deputized agency by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec acting spokesperson Director John Rex Laudiangco earlier declared that the recently held polls have been “generally peaceful.”
Centino said more than 70,000 soldiers were deployed by the AFP across the country to safeguard the elections.
He said the troops successfully monitored the security situation of over 100 cities and municipalities that were classified by the COMELEC as “election areas of concern” due to history of election-related violent incidents.
Different military assets were also utilized to support the transportation requirements of the Comelec for the elections.
“The presence of government forces in critical areas deterred armed groups who tried to orchestrate chaos,” Centino said.
Aside from this, Centino said that his directive to the military to practice their right to suffrage was effective.
About 33,000 troops cast their votes from April 27 to 29 through the Local Absentee Voting (LAV).