AFP remains non-partisan amidst remarks of ex-president Duterte

FILE PHOTO: The Armed Forces of the Philippines in their pass-in-review during the AFP 81st Anniversary in Camp Aguinaldo on December 21, 2016. Philippine Daily Inquirer / Joan Bondoc

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday reiterated its non-partisan stand in view of the recent falling out between President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

The AFP was linked to the recent controversy after Duterte  claimed that the military knows Marcos’ alleged drug use.

READ: ‘It’s the fentanyl,’ Marcos says after former president Duterte tags him ‘drug addict’

“We would like to reiterate in terms of this topic … that we remain united, we remain professional and we are non-partisan,” AFP spokesperson Col. Fransel Margareth Padilla said in a regular press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.

Padilla also said that the AFP will just “continue to have our focus in terms of our mission to end our local terrorist insurgency problem and transition ultimately to territorial defense.”

The spokesperson clarified that the AFP only conducts drug tests for its own troops and has no mandate to conduct such things outside its personnel, adding that this responsibility could fall under the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“We are concerned with our own troops on how we can check them on these things, so we have our regular drug checks for our own troops,” Padilla said.

READ: Bongbong Marcos was never on gov’t drugs watch list — PDEA

For its part, PDEA on Monday said Marcos was never on the government watch list for illegal drugs.