AFP will deploy over 40K troops for Eleksyon 2022 —spokesman

The Armed Forces of the Philippines  will designate over 40,000 personnel all over the country for the May 9, 2022 national and local elections, AFP spokesperson Army Colonel Ramon Zagala said Sunday.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, Zagala said that AFP chief of staff General Andres Centino has given them directives to adopt two modes of operation for the upcoming elections.

“‘Yan ay ang election mode which means lahat ng election duties at tasks, at ang combat mode para ma-suppress natin ang lahat ng threat groups at lawless elements,” he said.

(Election mode is for all election duties and tasks, and the combat mode is for us to suppress all threat groups and lawless elements.)

He pointed out that the 40,000 AFP troops allocated in all regions are set to monitor the 14 cities and 105 towns tagged as "election areas of concern" under the highest red category.

“Lahat ng area commands nagdagdag tayo ng tropa. iba-iba ‘yung numbers dependa sa pangangailangan,” he said. “Lahat ng available nating kasundaluhan will be made available for them. Kung kinakailangan pa, pwede pang dagdagan.”

(We have added troops in all our area commands. The numbers just vary depending on their need. All our available troops will be made available for them. If necessary, more can be added.)

AFP LAV, non-partisanship

As for the AFP's local absentee voting turnout, Zagala noted that around 33,000 AFP personnel already cast their votes during the local absentee voting (LAV) scheduled from April 27 to 29, 2022.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) earlier reported that of the 93,819 LAV applicants, most came from the Philippine National Police with 48,698, followed by the Philippine Army with 32,786, and Philippine Air Force with 4,261.

Zagala reminded AFP forces to remain non-partisan to protect their integrity and the public's trust, considering that they also coordinate with the Comelec to transport election paraphernalia for the May 9 polls.

“Walang miyembro ng AFP ang pwedeng mag-engage directly o indirectly in any partisan political activity. Ang tanging karapatan lang namin ayon sa Konstitusyon ay bumoto,” he added.

(No member of the AFP can directly or indirectly engage in any partisan political activity. Our only constitutional right is to vote.) —LBG, GMA News