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The Armed Forces of the Philippines was quick to defend its commander-in-chief, President Rodrigo Duterte, on the latter’s statement that allegedly, he wants to the US troops to pull out in Mindanao.
AFP Public Affairs Office Chief Col. Edgard Arevalo insisted that the AFP supports the statement of the President because he is only concern of the safety of the US servicemen in Mindanao, particulalary in Zamboanga City, Sulu and Basilan wherein an intensified offensive military operations are being conducted against the said rebel group.
Col. Arevalo said “pursuant to the same statement, he desires that our American counterparts should be eased from harms’ way. This refers to Western Mindanao (in particular areas like Zamboanga, Basilan and Sulu) where intense focused military operations combating terrorism are ongoing.”
The AFP official added “We understand that the implementation of the said pronouncement is the subject of deliberations by concerned departments like DND, and Department of Foreign Affairs, to mention some.”
In line with this, the AFP official said that there are more than 100 US soldiers remaining in the Mindanao region.
These troops are helping their Filipino counterpart in intelligence sharing and technical assistance and training against terrorism.
The PHL-US Defense relations remain “rock solid” amid the President’s recent statement.
In fact, the scheduled military activities for this year and the consultative planning activities for 2017 will push through, “the recent pronouncement will affect only a token number of American servicemen who are confined mainly in Zamboanga City. They provide technical assistance and training to their Filipino counterparts in combating terrorism in the Philippines
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