The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) urged Filipinos to go out and cast their vote in the upcoming midterm election on May 12 as it is the “best way” for their voices to be heard.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla also appealed to certain political figures to insulate the military from partisan politics.
“Kung mayroon man po tayong saloobin at gusto po natin isigaw ito (If we really have opinions and we want to let them out), the best way for our voices to be heard is to cast our votes. Let us exercise our constitutional right to vote, and that is where we are going to be really heard,” Padilla said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview with the government-run People’s Television Network (PTV) on Wednesday, March 26.
The AFP is working with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to provide security for the polls.
But Padilla acknowledged that the AFP has been hounded by political noise surrounding the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), brought to the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Villamor Airbase, and consequently flown to The Hague, Netherlands, to face charges of crimes against humanity of murder for his bloody drug war.
The former leader’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, criticized the AFP for supposedly standing idly when their former command-in-chief was taken from a military base “under questionable circumstances.”
In response, Padilla said: “This is a law enforcement operation primarily. The role of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was to assist in this law enforcement operation. That’s our only role and we fulfilled it.”
The military spokesperson also stressed that the AFP’s loyalty “remains to the country, and to the flag, and to our Constitution.”
“Ang ating panawagan po dito (Our appeal) is for us to be insulated from political noise,” the military spokesperson said.
Right now, Padilla pointed out that the AFP is “laser-focused” on ensuring that the elections will be peaceful and orderly.
“Our role is to augment the PNP, we set up checkpoints, and if there is a need, we will secure the polling precincts and the transportation of the ballot boxes,” she said.