Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Troop deployment for election duties now at 97.1% -- AFP

From the Philippine News Agency (May 4): Troop deployment for election duties now at 97.1% -- AFP

The deployment of units tasked to secure the coming May 9 elections has reached 97.1 percent, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesperson, said complete deployment will be announced anytime soon.

When asked regarding the exact number of troops and units involved in securing the coming polls, Padilla stressed the entire 125,000-strong AFP is committed to preserving the peace, transparency, sanctity of the polls with its Philippine National Police (PNP) counterparts.

He added that bulk of the military units are deployed in traditional election hot spots which include Maguindanao, Lanao Del Sur, Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Padilla said military units in these provinces are deployed in checkpoint operations to prevent the proliferation of loose firearms and movement of private armed groups.

In the same vein, the AFP spokesperson said all unified command headquarters are given leeway to elevate their alert status if needed.

He also stressed that additional troops can be deployed as the need arises.

As of this posting, the security situation all over the country is normal.

Padilla also stressed that the AFP is willing to transport election paraphernalia to far-flung areas of the country if ordered by the Commission on Elections.

He said that this was demonstrated by recent Nomad flights carrying election materiel to the Kalayaan Island Group some two days ago.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=882253

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