AFP camps campaign-free
I would like to express my hope that the prohibition against campaigning in military camps applies to the administration as well as the opposition.
Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, had announced all military camps, including the Philippine Military Academy, are off-limits to all candidates.
According to the AFP chief, the ban extends to posters and other election paraphernalia.
I welcome the announcement, although the law is already clear on the matter. I only hope the military leadership strictly enforces it.
Under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code the AFP and the Philippine National Police cannot engage in partisan political activities, except to vote.
The military and the police should be loyal not to any political party but to the Constitution and the electoral process. They should not allow themselves be used by those who wish to undermine both.
A number of ranking military officials were implicated in the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential election. In the controversial “Hello Garci” tape, which surfaced after the election, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo supposedly ordered then Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to cheat in her favor.
