By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos | Philippine News Agency
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday directed government troops to use their resources for the “territorial security aspect of your new mission,” as they continue performing well in carrying out their mandate of defending the Filipino people and the entire nation.
“Keep up the good work. And we will get to that point where we can say that we can already transition fully, or at least the majority of our resources can transition already to the defense of our territory,” Marcos told the Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM) troops during his visit to Camp General Guillermo Nakar in Lucena City, Quezon.
Marcos gave the directive as he told them to “stay focused” despite the current state of the country’s political landscape.
He said the military should not get distracted by the political noise, stressing that their attention must be centered on the public’s welfare.
“Ako, ganoon ang isip, pagka marami—maingay ang nangyayari, iniisip ko lagi: ano ba talaga trabaho ko? Trabaho ko ba’y makipag-away diyan? Trabaho ko [ba ang] makipag-debate diyan sa mga walang kuwentang bagay? Hindi. Ang trabaho ko ay pagandahin ang Pilipinas. Kayo naman, may mission din kayo,” Marcos told the soldiers.
“Pagka medyo naguguluhan kayo, isipin lang ninyo, alalahanin niyo: What is my mission? What is my mission? Your mission is to defend the people of the Republic of the Philippines.”
The President called on government forces to ensure peace and order while protecting Philippine territory.
“I just had a briefing from your Commander, [Maj.] Gen. [Facundo] Palafox, on the general situation in the area of operation of the SOLCOM. And ang pinakamalaking pagbabago na nakikita natin ay ngayon ang SOLCOM, kasama na sa trabaho ng SOLCOM ay ang territorial defense,” he said.
“And now that has become part of the mission of the Southern Luzon Command. Whereas before, it was only with the internal threats that we were having to deal with.”
He also expressed appreciation to the military personnel for assisting government agencies in their disaster response efforts during the onslaught of the recent tropical cyclones.
In a Palace press briefing on Thursday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the prevailing political noise would not hurt the Philippines’ sustained economic growth.
Balisacan’s statement came after Vice President Sara Duterte claimed that she had contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, in case Duterte gets killed.
Marcos’ security team has already tightened its security following Duterte’s “active” threat against the First Couple.