General Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), revealed Wednesday, Nov. 27, that he temporarily relieved all the military personnel assigned to the security team of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The members of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) will be replaced by a joint contingent from the AFP and Philippine National Police (PNP), Brawner said.
However, he clarified that he will not personally manage the VPSPG, contrary to reports which surfaced online, as it will still be directly under the supervision of the AFP’s Presidential Security Command (PSC).
“No, that is not true. I will not take over the VPSPG. It is still under the PSC because I cannot do that (takeover) since I already have a lot on my plate. We have to deal with a lot of security issues affecting our country,” Brawner said.
Accordingly, the PNP issued a subpoena to military personnel under the VPSPG following a shoving incident at the House of Representatives Detention Center and Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) involving the detention of Duterte’s chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez.
“I just want to clarify that the reason we are doing this is because we received a subpoena from the PNP and they will investigate the members of the VPSPG. We decided to adhere to the subpoena issued by the PNP to address their investigation,” Brawner said.
He said they have yet to determine how many members were affected. "But the assurance is that we will not leave the Vice President without a security. That is our mandate."
The PNP accused members of the VPSPG of assisting in the “forced transfer” of Lopez from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to St. Luke's Medical Center using a private ambulance.
To recall, Lopez was cited for contempt by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability amid an investigation into the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds by the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education.
She was initially ordered to serve a five-day detention at the Batasang Pambansa Complex until the Vice President stepped in and joined Lopez in her detention room last week.
In a press conference at Lopez' detention room, Duterte claimed to have contracted an assassin to kill President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if the supposed threat on her life succeeds.
Lopez was then brought to the VMMC after falling ill. During a confrontation, the PNP accused Colonel Raymund Dante Lachica, head of the VPSPG, of “physically pushing and assaulting” a "doctor-in-charge" from the PNP Health Service.
Brawner assures VP Sara’s safety
Meanwhile, the military chief said that the new security contingent assigned to the VPSPG were directed to ensure the safety of the Vice President.
“The security of the Vice President is still of primary concern to us. If something happens to our Vice President, this might spark chaos. As the Vice President has claimed, she will do some actions against the President, the First Lady, and the House Speaker if something bad happens to her. We do not want that to happen. Some groups could take advantage of that to harm the Vice President and blame it to one party which could cause chaos,” Brawner said.
Further, he rejected the call of former president Rodrigo Duterte to correct the “fractured” governance of Marcos. The older Duterte made the call on Monday night in the wake of the backlash faced by her daughter, Sara, over the “kill plot” against Marcos.
“No, that is not our job. Our job is to protect the Armed Forces of the Philippines, its people, and to defend our territory, our sovereignty and our sovereign rights,” Brawner said.
“The military adventurism experienced in the past is no longer practiced. We will not take the law into our own hands," he added, referring to the conduct of reckless actions by soldiers in an apparent act of defiance to military rules.
He said he expects every member of the armed forces to be professional despite their own political inclinations.
"We recognize that all of us have our own political opinions, political inclinations. We respect that. But until you wear our uniform, you need to follow the Constitution and protect the country. We cannot just air our grievances. If you want to do that, just resign from the service, remove your uniform and that's the time that you are free to do whatever you want to do," Brawner said.
Brawner also appealed to the public to remain calm, adding that the AFP is on top of the situation to manage tensions.
“Our country is beset by a lot of security threats, a lot of security challenges. We are appealing to the public to remain calm in the midst of everything that’s been happening and let us just allow the democratic processes to continue,” he said.