Armored vehicles on Edsa? No cause for alarm, says AFP

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) downplayed circulating reports of military tank sightings along Edsa on Monday night – the eve of President Rodrigo Duterte’s planned address to the nation.

“We urge the public to stay calm. There is no cause for alarm,” AFP spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a statement on Tuesday.

He also asked the public to “to stop spreading rumors or conjectures.”

“They don’t help. They tend to sow misinformation, confusion, and worst—panic. The public should be wary of persons or groups who maliciously spread such rumors,” he said.

The AFP spokesperson was reacting to “persistent queries” on the alleged sightings of tanks, military helicopters, and other military assets.

“Matters that are otherwise normal occurrences,” Arevalo said, adding that “there were no such sizeable movements of military aircraft or armored vehicles.”

Posts about armored vehicles supposedly rolling along Edsa circulated on social media on Monday night. It comes in the wake of allegations that there are rumblings in the military amid Mr. Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572 voiding the amnesty granted to his fiercest critic. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a former military rebel turned lawmaker.

In a separate text message, AFP public affairs chief Col. Noel Detoyato confirmed that the military has been on red alert since last week.

“It’s our SOP if the President is out of the country. But it was not lifted because of the coming typhoon (Mangkhut/ Ompong),” he said. /kga