AFP focuses on threats, foreign interference in polls

MANILA, Philippines — Potential security threats and foreign interference in the May 12 midterm elections are the focus of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in conducting thorough background checks on candidates.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla yesterday said the names of candidates whose background would be checked by the military through its intelligence network would come from the Commission on Elections.

“The Comelec will provide if there is a need to focus attention on particular candidates,” Padilla said in Filipino in a radio interview.

The AFP on Thursday said it would conduct thorough background checks on candidates in the elections, and any finding would be confidentially relayed to the Comelec for appropriate action.

AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military, through its intelligence network, would check all candidates, including their background, to ensure that they are legitimate Filipino citizens.

“Let’s just clarify that we in the AFP… are working with the Comelec here, so our role is to intensify our intelligence gathering. This is aimed at helping the Comelec ensure the integrity of our elections and to maintain national security,” Padilla said.

“We will work to identify possible security threats such as foreign interference and wrongful influence. Whatever information we will discover, we will carefully forward to the Comelec for appropriate action,” she added.

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency confirmed that dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping was an “agent of influence” who used her position to influence public opinion or decision-making to benefit the country that hired her.