AFP to fulfill mandate to protect Duterte
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vows to perform its mandate to protect Vice President Sara Duterte despite her announcement to hire private security personnel if the military pulls out her security detail.
"On behalf of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we will continue to perform our mandate accordingly," Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, AFP spokesperson said.
"It is our mission at the Presidential Security Command to protect the President, the Vice President, and other dignitaries from harm and embarrassment. And with this mission, we have to fulfill it to the letter. And so we will not be divulging operational details on how this will ensue, but we are ensuring that we will do our mandate accordingly to protect our top leaders accordingly," she added.
In an interview on Wednesday, Duterte revealed that she sent a letter to AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. that she will not accept new security detail once the present members of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) will be pulled out for replacement.
Duterte also announced her plan to get a private security arrangement out of the AFP which is one of her options if the military will replace her security detail.
Padilla said the AFP "are still in the process of arranging for the orders" of the VPSPG members who received subpoena.
"As to the proceedings, it is beyond the AFP. For the side of the AFP, we will support the investigation that will ensue," she said.
"The investigation has not yet started. As soon as they are called, then we will make them available accordingly," she added.
The replacement of the members of the VPSPG was ordered by Brawner after the AFP received a subpoena from the PNP that called for members of the VPSPG to be investigated due to the commotion at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) last Nov. 23.
The AFP previously said that it is looking at possible administrative charges against the commander of the VPSPG after he allegedly assaulted a Philippine National Police (PNP) doctor-in-charge during the “forced transfer” of the Office of the Vice President chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez to a private hospital. Robina Asido/DMS
