No loyalty check amid Marcos ouster rumors – AFP

MANILA, Philippines — There is no need for loyalty checks on uniformed personnel as there is no destabilization plot against the Marcos administration, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said yesterday.

He said such destabilization rumors were not even discussed during yesterday’s command conference at Camp Aguinaldo, the first presided over by President Marcos.

“No need, no need because we are assured,” Brawner said when asked about the possible need for a loyalty check. “Personally, in my visits to units and in my meetings with commanders, I have personally gauged that there is no need for a loyalty check and that our commanders and our troops remain loyal to our Constitution.”

He explained to reporters that the AFP is focused on more pressing concerns like ending the communist rebellion, dealing with China on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue and addressing the possible effects on security of the raging conflict in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and the Hamas terror group.

“So we are looking into all of that, especially the challenges here in the WPS. So we’re facing so many problems,” he said. “I gave guidance to our commanders and I’ve been telling them repeatedly that we should be united and professional. They know it, and they understand it.”

The AFP has also repeatedly clarified that retired military officials and officers expressing their opinions on social media platforms are entitled to express their opinions as private citizens.

“I think first there is no credible threat to the stability of the country and if ever there are some individuals who would try to destabilize our country, they will fail,” AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar stressed in an earlier interview over CNN Philippines.

“The AFP is a professional organization and so the officers and men that compose it adhere to the chain of command and are loyal to the flag and the Constitution,” he said.

The specter of destabilization has also haunted the Philippine National Police and PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. had to deny a rumor that retired personnel had been denied entry to Camp Crame.

“There is no issuance on that and there is no basis for us