Galvez: Everything normal amid calls for withdrawal of military support for Marcos

Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday assured that “everything is normal and peaceful” despite reported calls for the military to withdraw support from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. 

He made the remarks when sought for comment about the possible implications of such calls on the peace process.

“Everything is normal and peaceful in the peace process,” he told GMA News Online in a message.

Galvez also agreed with the previous statements of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. on reports that retired military officials want active AFP members to cease supporting Marcos.

“I strongly support the statements of [Teodoro] and [Brawner] for the AFP to remain faithful to the ‘Chain of Command’ and support President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on his drive against corruption and hold those involved accountable,” he said.

On October 3, Brawner said some retired AFP officers called on the military to withdraw its support from the President. Brawner said he rejected the suggestion.

Brawner said the appeal for the military to withdraw support from the Chief Executive was made amid the Sept. 21 public protests and outrage over anomalies in flood control projects.

The AFP chief said the grievances were mainly against Marcos.

“That was their grievance, is that they’re saying that somebody else deserves to be President. But they did not mention who that somebody else is,” Brawner said.

He said retired AFP officers tried to reach out to him, military commanders and younger officers “to intervene through several means” like a coup d’etat or other forms of military intervention.

Brawner said he was confident that active military personnel would not heed such proposals because of the culture of professionalism in the AFP.

For his part, Teodoro earlier pointed out the military is not the solution to everything, considering that the problem was political corruption.

“Ang military hindi solusyon sa lahat ng bagay, lalong-lalo na kung ang problema ay political corruption. Ang solutions dyan ay political solutions. At sa corruption, may makulong,” Teodoro said in a separate media interview.

(The military is not the solution to everything, especially when the problem is political corruption. The solutions there are political solutions. And for corruption, there should be imprisonment.)

“Kailangan credible ang investigation at ang perception ng taong bayan ay ito’y walang pinapanigan, walang pinagtatakpan. Ngayon, ito ay so that there will be political stability,” he added.

(The investigation needs to be credible and the perception of the people is that it is not biased, that nothing is covered up. This is so that there will be political stability.) — JMA, GMA Integrated News