AFP to honor soldiers who secured Pope Francis

Armed Forces of the Philippines. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines will recognize its men who participated in securing Pope Francis’ five-day visit in an awarding ceremony next week.

“Sa Monday ng umaga may awarding may awarding ceremony sa lahat ng mga involved sa AFP side. Hindi ko alam kung mag-join ang [Philippine National Police], pero in recognition of the efforts of all these units and individuals magbibigay ng awarding ceremony. Kaya sa Monday yan sa flag-raising,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Restituto Padilla said.

Pope Francis’ five-day visit had led to the deployment of almost 40,000 policemen and soldiers, one of the biggest security operations in Philippine history.

Padilla said that based on their assessment, the event was a “successful” one.

“Very satisfied ang lahat although there are still rooms for improvement which will be good opportunities to fine-tune and refine for our next set of VIPs who will be visiting the country,” he said.