‘Marites warfare’: AFP denies walkout of top brass at command conference

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday categorically denied the reported walkout of military officials during a command conference.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said this in response to a DZRH radio expose about the alleged walkout last July 4 of a “top general” followed by other officials during a command conference.

However, it can be recalled that the last command conference of the AFP was presided over by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on July 4.

READ: Marcos leads a command conference with AFP officials

The midyear command conference came on the heels of the June 17 incident in the BRP Sierra Madre — a naval outpost in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal — which saw the most violent actions of China Coast Guard personnel so far, leading to what the Philippine military deem as “looting” of its disassembled high-powered guns and even caused the thumb amputation of one of its naval personnel.

On July 2, or two days before the command conference, Manila and Beijing also held the bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea to de-escalate tensions between the two nations.

READ: DFA: PH, China committed to easing tensions in West Philippine Sea

“If you are referring to the command conference, that’s fake news,” Padilla said in a regular AFP press conference held at Philippine Air Force headquarters when asked to respond to such claims.

“I was there personally. There is nothing of that sort that happened; it was a very professional exchange of ideas and discussions and there were also a lot of updates that were given. It all ended on a positive note,” she added.

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, also categorically denied this.

“That is fifty percent fabrication, fifty percent imagination, 100 percent false,” Trinidad said in an ambush interview, branding such claims as “Marites warfare.”

“Marites” is a Filipino slang referring to gossipmongers.

Trinidad also shrugged off a circulating text message among military circles purportedly from active AFP members calling for the replacement of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. over the violent June 17 incident.

“The chain of command is intact; we have very good and robust working relationships with higher headquarters especially with the Department of National Defense,” Trinidad said when asked to respond to the anonymous text message.