The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) belied reports that retired uniformed personnel are being prevented from entering military and police camps amid rumors of a destabilization against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, newly appointed AFP spokesperson, said retired personnel are still welcome in camps and no memorandum order has been released to restrict their access to military facilities.
"There is no veracity to that issue. We welcome the presence of our comrades-in-arms. We worked together with them before, we know their backgrounds, they have been with us all along," Padilla said on Monday, Jan. 15.
According to reports surfacing online, the access of retired military and police officers to Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame, the primary headquarters of AFP and PNP, was restricted through the temporary suspension of the issuance of decals or stickers for private vehicles.
This, after rumors of destabilization against Marcos surfaced anew which is supposedly being pushed by retired personnel.
"The issuance of decals has certain parameters. There’s a decal for active officers, there's a decal for civilians. You have to have somebody nominate you of sorts to have that decal," Padilla explained.
She further stated that strict inquiry of the identities of people coming in and out of military camps is part of the AFP's standard operating procedure (SOP).
"If they are given that situation, it's only SOP and not really sort of destab talks," she said.
Meanwhile, PNP Chief, Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said he does not know where the allegation came from as he advised the public to be discerning whenever they read materials online.
No, there [are] no issuances and there is no basis for us to prevent them from coming here. I don't know where that came from," Acorda said.
No need for loyalty check
Relatedly, AFP Chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said there is no need to conduct a loyalty check within the organization as the troops remain committed to the Constitution.
Brawner said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not discuss with the military leadership the rumors about supposed plots to oust him when he attended the AFP command conference on Monday, the first for this year which was attended by all the military commanders nationwide.
"There was no mention about any destabilization that's happening because we felt we are facing bigger problems so we focus at the tasks at hand," the military chief said.
"There is no need for loyalty check and our commanders and troops remain loyal to the Constitution," he added.
He said the AFP is focused on addressing threats to internal and external security such as their campaign against the communist groups, local terrorist groups, the tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), and international conflicts such as the Israel-Hamas war and its effect to regional security.