AFP vows to remain apolitical

Malacañang and the military rebuffed yesterday calls for soldiers opposed to Charter change and critical of the Arroyo administration to join Sunday’s prayer rally and street protests.

"The Armed Forces has its own function as well as the PNP (Philippine National Police). So I suppose it is enough that soldiers perform their duties," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.

Ermita said what the soldiers and the police should do is maintain peace and order during the protest actions..

"It is not right for uniformed personnel to join such activities," Ermita said. He warned that soldiers directly involved in political activities risked being charged in civilian and military courts.

"Please do not drag our soldiers and the AFP as a whole into this matter. What concerns us most now is to protect the gains we have had against the communist terrorist movement and other threat groups," Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said in a statement.

"Our duty to country and the Filipino people is foremost and will not be compromised," he added.

Ermita and Esperon were reacting to Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias’ call for soldiers to join the Dec. 17 protest rally by opposition groups. Protest organizers said they will proceed with the mass action even after the House leadership set aside the convening of a constituent assembly in favor of a constitutional convention.

Esperon said that instead of calling on the soldiers to protest, the groups opposed to Charter change should pray for the troops who would be away from their families during the Christmas season.

At a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado said that amid the raging political issues, the soldiers would remain focused on their mandated tasks and solid under the chain of command.

"We are appealing to all individuals and groups to help us insulate the armed forces from any political issues," he said.

Honrado said that the AFP as an organization is supposed to be non-partisan and that the only political activity soldiers are allowed to participate in is when they vote during elections.

Moreover, he said, soldiers should not be distracted from their major tasks of combating terrorism and insurgency and helping in the relief and rehabilitation of areas ravaged by recent typhoons. "As they say, leave the politics to the politicians," he said.

Honrado admitted military men have different opinions on the issue but they should be "man enough to face the consequence" if they "go beyond what is allowed by the regulations and the Constitution."

On Tobias’ call, Honrado said: "He is entitled to his own opinion and he is entitled to make any call."

"We have respect to the men of clergy and it is within their right to make a call. Now, whether his call will be heeded or not, that is the question."

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao sees nothing seditious or rebellious about Tobias’ call. He stressed however that policemen will not join the rallies. He said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group or CIDG is looking into the possible criminal liability of Tobias.

"We have our own rules and regulations. We can’t join such activities. We can join the rally only as part of the contingent force," Pagdilao said.

He also said that Tobias is under investigation for allegedly coddling members of the mutinous Magdalo movement, Lt. senior grade (Sg) Lawrence San Juan, Lt. junior grade Kiram Sadava, and Lt. Sg. Patricio Bumidang. - Aurea Calica and Cecille Suerte Felipe