CEBU, Philippines - AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu assured the armed forces will remain faithful to the current administration amidst reports that some soldiers are still loyal to former chief executive and incumbent Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu, during his visit to Central Command yesterday, assured the AFP is neutral amidst the current political disturbance in the country concerning Arroyo.
“We should not be involved in partisan politics because we have a professional military organization which adheres to the chain of command and observes our rules and regulations,” he added.
However, Mapagu did not deny the fact, that there are several soldiers, and even high-ranking military officials, who are close acquaintances of Arroyo.
“Those are speculations so she is the former president, so marami din siyang pakikitungo at nakatrabaho sa militar,” he said.
But as far as he is concerned, Mapagu assured the public that the military as a whole will follow their mandate which is to advance the nation’s aims and interests.
Mapagu’s claims were supported by Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, chief of Central Command.
In the course of the country’s history, whoever holds the military majority has the entire country at his mercy.
This was evident during the time of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos who used the military in pushing his plans.
The same force which Marcos used was also instrumental in his removal from his presidency during the first EDSA revolution.
This was again shown during the second EDSA revolution in 2001 which ousted deposed president Joseph “Erap” Estrada. (FREEMAN)