AFP: No such things as military-back reset

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday once again assured the public that it will not support any military junta or “military-backed reset” of the government, amid the flood control and infrastructure corruption scandal hounding the Marcos administration.

- By MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN

“Our Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff has already clarified this multiple times, that there is no such thing as a military junta within the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The AFP will never subscribe to any reset plot, and our Constitution has no cheat codes. So we will always go to the side of the Constitution, the constitutional processes that are in place,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said.

Asked further about Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s recent revelations that he was invited to join such a junta, which he rejected, Padilla told reporters there is no such thing happening inside the military organization.

“Who Lacson spoke to were within the ranks of retired personnel. This is for other agencies to look into. Our concern is the national security implications of it,” she said in Filipino.

Padilla noted that the AFP is specifically concerned only with active military personnel and as for those already retired, “they are now civilians but we respect their opinions, their advice to the active members.”

On Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr.’s admission that there is an active effort or attempt to destabilize the government, Padilla explained that “if this is being investigated upon, we will not leave any stone unturned. Like we said, if there is a report on that, we will act on it and make the necessary actions.”

And while the AFP is looking into allegations of possible recruitment of active soldiers for such plots, she said the AFP has evolved into a very professional organization that has learned from, and sees the pitfalls of, such experiences in the past.