MANILA, Philippines?The Philippine Army on Friday said that working for credible elections in May was among its top New Year resolutions.

?We will do everything to contribute to a very peaceful and credible elections [and] the Army will not participate in any partisan politics except to exercise our right of suffrage,? Army chief Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit said in a statement on Friday.

Bangit said the Army had listed four ?ACEs? to work for in 2010: Advocating for credible elections, Concern for the environment, Concern for engineering, and Excellence in combat.

Soldiers would only execute ?legal orders? coming from the Commission of Elections (Comelec) and ?higher office,? said Bangit, who is reportedly among the generals most trusted by President Macapagal-Arroyo.

Bangit said the Army was prepared to take down any armed group planning to disrupt the elections.

?This nation has to move on,? he said.

Bangit, who was previously head of the Presidential Security Group and chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp), is expected to assume the post of AFP chief of staff when Gen. Victor Ibrado retires in March, two months before the elections.

Critics had recently opposed the idea of assigning soldiers to election duty, saying it was dangerous in light of the ?Hello Garci? scandal of 2004 where President Arroyo was accused of cheating with the help of some military generals and a Comelec official.

During the AFP?s 74th anniversary last week, Ibrado assured the public that the soldiers deployed during the elections would not go anywhere near the ballots.