Teodoro: Military will uphold the Constitution

Department of national Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto C. teodoro Jr. on tuesday said the armed Forces of the philippines (afp) remains steadfast in upholding the Constitution under president Ferdinand r. marcos Jr.’s administration.

Teodoro issued the statement after some groups urged the military to withdraw its support for the Chief executive.

“The afp is standing steadfast in upholding the Constitution under the leadership of the Commander-in-chief president Ferdinand r. marcos Jr. any attempt to sway them away from this duty or to patronize them to support a partisan agenda is futile, particularly when this agenda dovetails with a foreign interest contrary to our own national interests,” he added.

Teodoro also said that calls for the afp to “withdraw support” will not amount to anything but to a possible criminal investigation.

Afp Chief-of-staff romeo Brawner Jr. said troops will only follow duly constituted authorities.

“We will protect the Constitution and we will follow the duly constituted authorities. In other words, we will follow the Chain of Command and the president is our Commander-in -Chief,” he said when sought for comment on Davao Del norte rep. pantaleon alvarez’s calls for the afp to withdraw its support from marcos.

Alvarez urged the military to withdraw its support for the Chief executive in wake of the rising tensions between the philippines and China over the West philippine Sea which could lead to conflict.

Brawner noted that this is not the first time groups have called for the afp to withdraw its support from the Chief executive and that their responses will remain the same.

“This is not the first time na nanawagan sila na [that some groups have called for us to] pull out our support to the president but our answer is always the same, the afp remains to be a professional organization,” he added.

Earlier, the afp said it remains focused on protecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity despite calls made by some sectors calling it to abandon the marcos administration.

“Our soldiers, pilots, sailors and marines remain dedicated to our mandate of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the philippines, regardless of any political affiliations or individuals in authority,” afp Spokesperson Col. Francel margareth padilla said in a statement.