AFP: No loyalty check needed

MANILA, Philippines - The military does not see the need to conduct a loyalty check on its troops amid rumors that some officers are dissatisfied with the way President Aquino handled the Mamasapano incident.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. said soldiers would remain faithful to the chain of command and the Constitution.

“There is no need for loyalty check. We are loyal to the constitution and to our duly-constituted authorities,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Catapang said the president should be allowed to finish his term.

“I think the president has a mandate with the people and the election is coming soon. We have to allow the president to finish his term because he is the duly elected and the duly constituted authority of the country,” the military chief said.

Catapang said the military has not received reports about the supposed plan of some uniformed personnel to stage an anti-government uprising.

Reports about the supposed demoralization within the security forces surfaced after Aquino was criticized for supposedly being too soft on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the group blamed for the death of 44 police commandos in Maguindanao.