Army chief warned of IEDs targeting pols?

The use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) may increase in the upcoming elections and may target politicians, Army chief Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes was quoted by the US Army as saying.

In an article posted on its website, the US Army said Coballes made the statement during his visit to Hawaii last month.

“This May, the Philippines will be holding elections for mid-term congressional seats and local seats in the provinces and municipalities. Coballes said every election cycle sees a spike in IED activity and this year will be no different,” the US Army article read.

"We have a mandate to protect all Filipinos. We might see an increase in IED explosions-it could be targeting our own soldiers, but in my opinion they will be targeting politicians," Coballes was quoted by the article as saying.

Coballes, however, denied making such statement during his Hawaii visit.

“We made a visit but I did not make such statement,” the Army chief said in Filipino. 

The US Army said Coballes visited Hawaii from Feb. 3 to 9 as guest of Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, commander of the US Army Pacific.

Coballes was reportedly briefed about the capabilities of the Asia Pacific Counter IED Fusion Center.

The center is the executive agent for US Pacific Command for all counter IED intelligence gathering and training. The US Army said the center’s main mission is to prepare US forces for overseas contingency operations.

“The center has also trained more than 2000 soldiers from 11 partner nations to include the Philippines,” the article read.

The US Army said Coballes was impressed by the capabilities of the center, which uses updated techniques to combat explosive devices.