Can Sara be removed as Army reservist?

MANILA, Philippines —  Because of her recent statements against Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and President Marcos, the commander-in-chief, can Vice President Sara Duterte be delisted or removed from military rolls as an Army reservist colonel?

The answer is unclear for now, considering how the AFP opts not to talk about the matter in its effort to distance the military from political issues or noise.

“Hindi ko alam paano nakakatulog yang chief of staff ng Armed Forces of the Philippines gabi-gabi, mahimbing ang tulog mo, ganito ang bayan natin, bilyon-bilyon ang nawawala (I don’t know how the AFP chief of staff can sleep well every night when our country is like this, billions are being lost),” Duterte said in an online press conference last week.

Duterte also cursed Marcos, the First Lady and Speaker Martin Romualdez, adding that she has contracted someone to assassinate the three if she gets killed.

The AFP is silent on whether or not such statements can result in disciplinary action against the Vice President, who was donned the rank of full-fledged colonel in the AFP Reserve Command in February 2018 when she was mayor of Davao City.

Brawner, stressing that the military is a nonpartisan and professional organization that should not be dragged into the political noise, said on Wednesday that it is not the AFP’s job to meddle in political matters.

Republic Act 242 or the military’s Articles of War, under Article 63, does punish or impose disciplinary action against disrespecting “the President, Vice President, Congress of the Philippines or Secretary of National Defense.”

It provides that “any officer who uses contemptuous or disrespectful words against the President, Vice President, the Congress of the Philippines or Secretary of National Defense shall be dismissed from the service or suffer such other punishment as a court-martial may direct. Any other person subject to military law who so offends shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”

However, STAR sources said military reservists, such as Duterte, are volunteer civilians unless called to active duty and thus the Articles of War may not apply to them.  – Emmanuel Tupas