Armed Forces to probe paid ad for Lim

MANILA, Philippines - An investigation will be conducted by military officials to determine the possible liability of active military officers who signed the paid newspaper advertisement supporting detained alleged coup leader Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs chief, said that while valid issues were raised by some retired and active military officers and civilians who endorsed Lim for the 2010 elections, soldiers who are still in active service should not get involved in partisan politics.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines – meaning those in the active service – would rather remain free from partisan politics, and any digression from this would not be tolerated. What would be put into question would be the alleged expression of support by some in active military service, and that is what we would like to look into, ” Torres said.

He assured the people that the paid advertisement would not trigger any move to destabilize the government because the document was basically a statement of support and an expression of the general aspirations of the people.

“As of the moment, definitely there will be some reassessment but we don’t find any cause for alarm regarding this one. We have not monitored any group from within the Armed Forces of the Philippines planning to do anything against the government,” he said.

As for the retired military officers who signed the manifesto, Torres said they have the right to freely express their thoughts, having gone outside the active service, as long as they do not pose any threat to national security.

Torres said the advertisement raised questions because one of the signatories, retired Maj. Gen. Juanito Gomez, said that he was not informed about the statement.    – With Paolo Romero, Tina Mendez