(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the nation’s security forces to be non-partisan during the election season as he asked them to make a “commitment to the Filipino people” to stay “neutral.
“Let us make a deal here, promise, we make a commitment to the Filipino people. This election, strictly neutral tayong lahat,” he said in a speech on Monday, Oct. 15, during the Philippine Army’s change of command rites.
Duterte also asked the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police “not to indulge in partisan politics” citing the constitutional prohibition on security forces during elections.
“The Armed Forces, the police, and the uniformed personnel of government, I am asking you not to indulge in partisan politics. Wala tayong susuportahan. Iyong mga kandidato ko, ako lang because this is a political position. But I expect everybody to respect that constitutional prohibition,” the President explained.
Earlier, he accompanied his special assistant Christopher “Bong” go when he filed his certificate of candidacy as a senatorial bet under the ruling PDP-LABAN party at the Commission on Elections main office in Manila.
President Duterte also assured the public that next year’s election would be honest and that nobody in his administration, not even his close allies, could use the government’s resources.
“It’s good. It’s good for the country and I’ll announce to the country now that we make a pledge: There will be an election and it will be an honest one. Nobody but nobody can use government resources, not even Bong. I will not allow it,” he said.
