The Philippine National Police (PNP) denied that it mobilized all its units and resources, including its elite forces and armored personnel carriers, to thwart a supposed destabilization plot in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Saturday, Jan. 7.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said there was no verbal instruction or any order from the PNP leadership for all its units to be placed under full alert, the highest security alert status of the police.
Fajardo was reacting to at least three versions of a PNP memorandum that circulated on Saturday while a turnover of command was being held between incoming AFP chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino and Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Based on the circulating PNP memo purportedly issued for PNP units in Western Visayas, there was an instruction from the Chief PNP Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. for PNP units to be placed on alert over "developing issues in Camp Aguinaldo."
A separate PNP issued for units at the CARAGA region stated that the full alert status "in in view of the resignation of Department of National Defense (DND) personnel."
Heightened Alert is the second highest alert status in the PNP equivalent to Blue Alert status in the military. The highest is Full Alert which is equivalent to Red Alert in the military.
Another supposed PNP memo for the Special Action Force (SAF) refers to "destabilization movements from the AFP" as the reason behind the full alert status.
In all the three versions, police units were supposedly instructed to conduct exercises for camp defense plan, to monitor the activities of the military, and to prepare the necessary firepower and communication equipment for all possible scenarios.
"There was no instruction for full alert status. What we can confirm is that the PNP is on heightened alert status in preparation for the Traslacion (Feast of the Black Nazarene)," said Fajardo.
"And the photos that were circulating (about armored personnel carriers inside Camp Crame in Quezon City) we can confirm that it is part of our preparations for Traslacion. These were readied in case they are needed," she added.
Fajardo added that it is normal for the APCs to move around as part of the monitoring and checking on their operational readiness.
Fajardo said the Chief PNP, Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. is aware of the circulating messages and has already issued an instruction to verify the sources of the supposed PNP memo.