AFP mum on MO 32 pending meeting with DND, DILG execs

FILE: Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA — While expressing support for Memorandum Order 32 as its intent is in line with the military’s constitutional mandate, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday announced that it will defer issuing further comments on the matter for now.

“We defer our further comments on that issuance until we sit on a meeting with DND (Department of National Defense) officials (and the latter with the DILG’s to discuss MO 32 and to hammer down the details on how we will operationalize its provisions on the ground,” AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said in a message to reporters.

For the moment, the military official said they support the order as it envisions to suppress lawless violence and acts of terror and to prevent such violence from spreading and escalating in other parts of the country.

“We say we support MO 32’s intent primarily because to protect the people and secure the state is the AFP’s constitutional mandate,” Arevalo stressed.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea issued Memorandum Order No. 32 on Nov. 22 amid “sporadic acts of violence allegedly committed by lawless groups particularly in the provinces of Samar, Negros Oriental and Occidental, and Bicol Region.

“There is a need to reinforce the directive of the President in order to prevent further loss of innocent lives and destruction of property and bring the whole country back to a state of complete normalcy as quick as possible,” he said in the memorandum order.