AFP: We’ll never run out of ammunition; airstrikes in Marawi to continue

The ammunition of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will never be used up, an official assured on Friday.

AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. made the statement after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that a conventional bomb killed 10 soldiers by an errant airstrike in Marawi City, indicating that precision-guided missiles were exhausted.

“Your Armed Forces will never run out of ammunition, my dear,” he told reporters during the Mindanao Hour in Malacañang.

“We have the general arsenal to keep on producing. And even if they want to keep this fight up to the end of this month, or this week, or whatever, we are determined to take care of all these forces that have brought violence and disturbed the peace to the peace-loving community of Marawi,” he added.

After the briefing, Padilla told reporters that only the SF-260 units ceased joining the airstrikes.

“Lahat po ng SF-260 ay suspend po muna sa paggamit. But there are other air assets available to the ground commander that he can employ to support our troops,” Padilla said.

Padilla also corrected his earlier report that 11 soldiers died in the errant airstrike, which was a first for the Philippine Air Force. He clarified only 10 soldiers died while the remaining one was killed after he encountered an enemy after the incident. The error caused the total number of government fatalities to rise to 36. 

He also said most relatives of soldiers killed in friendly fire have already accepted the situation.

“Our Army is also helping the bereaved families go through this very trying time. And sa punto pong ito, nais ko lang din pong ipaabot ano, kami po’y nagpapaabot ng pasasalamat sa lahat ‘nong mga pamilya na namatayan ng kanilang mga mahal sa buhay dahil sa insidenteng ito,” he said.

“At ang narinig po namin, karamihan po sa kanila ay tanggap itong mga nangyaring ito dahil alam naman po nila ang bigat at risk na dala ng isang sundalo ‘pag pumupunta sa isang giyera,” Padilla added. —KG, GMA News