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MANILA, Philippines – There was no high-level coordination of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with Vice President Leni Robredo during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses because the vice president did not make any request or call for help that needed approval from the leaders of the AFP.
Major General Edgard Arévalo, an AFP spokesperson, issued this statement on Wednesday (November 18) to clarify that the military had no official role in the Robredo rescue efforts.
The statement came after Malacanang described the vice president’s facilitation of rescue requests in typhoon-affected areas as a usurpation of presidential powers and President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at his vice president for allegedly competing with him to bring aid. typhoon survivors.
In his statement, Arévalo said that the AFP Headquarters (AFP GHQ) did not receive “requests or information on calls for help” from the “Honorable Vice President.”
“All directives to deploy disaster response personnel emanate” from AFP GHQ, Arévalo said. The AFP chief of staff occupies his post at AFP headquarters, the army headquarters in Aguinaldo camp.
His statement said that “be it anyway” that “if ever” the Vice President coordinated with “operational commanders” as her “contacts on the ground”, as Robredo said in his tweet, these commanders “will take the appropriate actions as circumscribed in the orders ”of the President, the Secretary of Defense and the head of the AFP that“ would provide the necessary assistance, with the information coming from the VP ”.
Duterte falsely claimed in his televised speech late Tuesday night that Robredo issued orders to the army for rescue operations.
“You know those military officers, they won’t believe it. you, ”Duterte said in Filipino, addressing Robredo. “Because they are right, you are not in the line of authority. You don’t have… In times of emergency, me and the military alone, ”he added.
On Wednesday, Robredo said he was simply passing out calls for help to “whoever was on the ground,” including the police, army and other government officials at the height of the Cagayan Valley flooding.
“The claim that I have been giving orders to the military is incorrect,” he told reporters.
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