AFP, PNP join forces vs rebels

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police will be working for stronger coordination to wage more effective antiinsurgency campaigns.

Top officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of National Defense (DND) inked the Revised Joint Implementing Rules and Regulations (RJIRR) of Executive Order No. 546 on the role of the two agencies in internal security operations against insurgency.

The RJIRR will serve as the mechanism to ensure cooperation between the AFP and PNP in addressing all peace and security concerns, including cases of emergency and calamity.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Interior Undersecretary Edwin Enrile signed the RJIRR yesterday in the presence of top AFP and PNP officials.

AFP chief Gen. Hernando Iriberri said the RJIRR clearly delineates the role of the PNP and the AFP in internal security operations, regardless of the stages of the insurgency.

“The role of the AFP is to conduct internal security operations, and it is very clear that the PNP takes the lead in law enforcement operations,” said Iriberri in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.

He said there will be no handover of responsibilities as there was in the past when the misconception was such that if the situation is clear or stable, the AFP turns over the responsibility of internal security to the PNP.

“Regardless of the situation, it is very clear that the lead in internal security is the AFP. That is one of the highlights of the RJIRR,” the AFP chief said.

AFP deputy chief of staff for operations Maj. Gen. Angelito de Leon said the revision came about as authorities sought ways to improve the interoperability and cooperation among ground forces.

Under the RJIRR, the PNP’s operation, intelligence, police community relations and investigation units are obliged to give support to the AFP’s combat operations, intelligence and civil military operations in its anti-insurgency campaign.

The revised regulations will also set the actions and roles of the AFP, PNP, DND and DILG depending on the stages of insurgency from its active stage to a state of internal peace and stability.