AFP probe clears soldiers deployed in MM from electioneering charges

By Ronron
March 12, 2007

An internal probe of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) cleared its soldiers deployed in urban poor areas in Metro Manila from electioneering charges raised by Gabriela party-list group, a military officer said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, NCRCom chief, said they have already completed their investigation on the matter last Saturday and submitted its report to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday (Monday).

The investigation was prompted by a letter from Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos after receiving Gabriela’s complaint that soldiers are telling residents of Barangay Parola, Isla Puting Bato, Delpan and 20, all in Tondo, Manila, not to vote for the party-list organization.

Gabriela is among the groups tagged by the military as legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

“The result of our investigation showed they were not campaigning against certain candidates or party-list (groups), and there was no indication that it happened in those communities,” Dolorfino said in a phone interview.

The probe began last March 3 and concluded only last Saturday, March 10th. It was headed by Lt. Col. Feliciano Loy, Staff Judge Advocate of the NCRCom.

Dolorfino said over 100 residents from all four barangays were interviewed by the investigators and even executed their affidavits.

The AFP has said that the deployment of 26 teams of 10 soldiers each to urban poor communities and Moslem areas in the cities of Caloocan, Manila, Quezon, and Taguig is just part of its civil military operations (CMO).

The military has strongly reminded its soldiers not to engage in partisan politics after it was dragged in the alleged electoral fraud in the 2004 Presidential elections./DMS