Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., on Tuesday dismissed reports of Task Force Davao’s abolishment as unfounded.

“It is not true that we will dismantle Task Force Davao. Instead, we will add more task forces in areas needing our forces to maintain peace and security,” Brawner said in Filipino during his visit to the country’s farthest military post on Mavulis Island in Batanes, where he checked on the welfare of the Filipino troops deployed to the country’s northernmost territory. 

Brawner was reacting to a statement from former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who said he received a report that Task Force Davao would be abolished amid rumors of the impending arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

Roque said Duterte told him over the phone that he would be arrested “anytime soon.”

“I received news that Task Force Davao, which has 700 soldiers and was created to protect Davao from the threat of terrorism, will be disbanded. They know that Task Force Davao is loyal to Duterte,” Roque claimed.

Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the AFP public affairs office, said there was no directive from the military hierarchy to abolish the task force. 

“Honestly, we were surprised by that. We don’t know where that came from basically,” Trinidad told reporters in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo. “We clarified that there was no directive to disband Task Force Davao.”

Roque’s vlog

In a vlog on Monday, Roque said AFP chief of staff Brawner went to Davao last weekend to formalize the abolition order.

The AFP Eastern Mindanao Command, which supervises Task Force Davao, released a statement denying Roque’s claims. 

It said Brawner’s visit was part of the Defense secretary’s order to check on the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations being conducted by the command in the area following the heavy flooding caused by the inclement weather.

“The visit also fulfilled his promise to visit the unified commands. He wanted to see if the EastMinCom’s new campaign plan aligned with that of General Headquarters,” it added.

The AFP-EastMinCom also noted that “there are no instructions whatsoever coming from higher headquarters to remove Task Force Davao from its present mandate.”

It maintained that Task Force Davao “serves as the main effort of Joint Task Force Haribon” in counter-terrorism operations in the region. 

“It has been effective in denying activities of terrorist threat groups and significantly maintaining the peace, security, and development in Davao City,” it added. 

The command said the task force is loyal to the people of Davao and not to one particular political personality.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla likewise emphasized that Brawner’s visit had nothing to do with the abolition of Task Force Davao.

The TFD was established on 16 April 2003 after the terror attacks on the Sasa Airport and Sasa Wharf earlier that same year.

Over the weekend, Brawner also visited several military headquarters such as Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan, Davao City; Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City; and 101st Infantry Brigade in Isabela City, Basilan. 

“The chief of staff went to Davao last weekend, but his sole purpose was for three things: to look into the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief there and how the AFP will assist with the calamities; second was to assess the security operations being conducted in Davao; and the third was to check on the welfare of the troops, and remind them of their unwavering commitment towards being united and professional,” Padilla said.