Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. | INQUIRER.net / Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Wednesday denied reports that he is taking over the security group of Vice President Sara Duterte.
“Hindi po totoo na (It’s not true that) I will take over the VPSPG (Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group),” Brawner told reporters in an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo. “It is still under the Presidential Security Command.”
“Hindi po kayang gawin yun dahil marami po tayong iniisip na iba pang mga security issues ng ating bansa,” Brawner said.
(We can’t do that because we have to tend to other security issues in the country.)
The statement comes amid Duterte’s revelation that she talked with a person whom she supposedly instructed to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, if she would get killed.
Brawner also denied that the AFP personnel would pull out all of its personnel under VPSPG.
“The assurance is that we will not leave the vice president without security, that is our mandate: to protect the president and the vice president so we will continue to do that,” he added.
READ: DOJ to summon VP Duterte over ‘active threat’ to President Marcos
Instead, Brawner said they will just temporarily replace VPSPG personnel including its head Col. Raymund Lachica, to comply with the police subpoena to appear before Philippine National Police (PNP).
“We received a subpoena from the Philippine National Police calling the members of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group for investigation,” Brawner said. “We are just going to temporarily replace them with a contingent from the Philippine National Police and from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
Brawner could not yet give exact data as to how many AFP personnel will be replaced, adding that the process is still ongoing.