Wednesday, January 10, 2007 Army to focus on gun ban implementation during election
THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be playing a lesser role in the coming May election and will be concentrating more on the strict implementation of the gun ban.
AFP chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the military will no longer be "securing candidates or transporting election paraphernalia."
"We will concentrate on enforcing the gun ban during the election period," Esperon said.
He, however, added that in times of security threats, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) could deputize AFP soldiers to address such threats.
"But the Comelec will identify the specific names and units of the deputized soldiers. There will be no random deployment," Esperon said.
The Arroyo administration decided to reduce the military's involvement in the election after several top military officials were accused of cheating in the 2004 presidential elections, among them was Esperon. (BOT)
