MANILA, July 23 — While not giving an exact number, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that it has more than sufficient troops to augment police units tasked to secure President Rodrigo Duterte’s second State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA) this Monday.
These military personnel will be under Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said Sunday.
“We can’t give the exact exact number but what we can tell you is that we have sufficient forces to support the Philippine National Police (PNP),” he added in Filipino.
An estimated 6,000 police officers are tasked to secure the Batasang Complex in Monday’s SONA activities which is expected to begin 4 p.m.
He added that the AFP contingent will be coming from the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
“The AFP is merely a force provider, so if we are given an exact area for deployment, these personnel will be sent there immediately,” Arevalo added
As this develops, the military is still to detect any security threat for the SONA activities.
“We are not really about the presence of threat or not, we will always be proactive (in our security approach) and we are hopeful na magkakaroon tayo ng peaceful and meaningful SONA tomorrow (Monday),” he added. (Priam F. Nepomuceno/PNA)
