By Priam Nepomuceno/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Military operations will continue against communist rebels and other threat groups despite the mid-term elections.
Col. Noel Detoyato, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief, said around 30,000 to 40,000 military troops are committed to aiding the Philippine National Police and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in ensuring that the May 13 elections will be peaceful and orderly.
“We will be supporting the PNP and the Comelec in this mid-term elections and around 30,000 to 40,000 of our troops will be directly committed but it will also depend on the situation on the ground, it will be decided upon by the Unified (Command) commanders but our counter-insurgency operations, all other security operations will not be stopped, there will be ongoing operations even if there is an ongoing election,” Detoyato said.
Operations against threat groups will be guided by the latest intelligence reports and will be a “focused military deployment”.
The AFP official added that military troops will be deployed in precincts identified as needing extra security. Deployment duties will be decided by the Comelec, Detoyato emphasized.
“We are deputized by the Comelec so those troops who will be deployed for election duties will take (their) deployment from the Comelec,” he added. Aside from securing the elections, the AFP will also help in the transport of poll materials where there are no contractors, he added.
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