The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday refrained from commenting on the complaints raised by the wife of a ranking officer who opposed his promotion to star rank before the Commission on Appointments. 

“The AFP cannot comment on the case of Brig. Gen. Ranulfo Sevilla and his family as this is still undergoing a legal process,” AFP Public Affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad told DAILY TRIBUNE.

Nonetheless, Trinidad assured the public that the military does not tolerate any form of abuse committed by its officials and personnel. 

He issued the statement in response to this paper’s question on whether Sevilla would face a court-martial after his estranged wife accused him in a letter to the CA of being abusive physically and of disregarding a court order to provide child support. 

Sevilla is currently the deputy commander of the AFP’s Operations Command in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.

On Tuesday, the CA Committee on National Defense deferred the deliberation on Sevilla’s ad interim appointment as AFP general following the opposition from his wife, Tessa Luz Aura Sevilla. 

Sevilla’s promotion had been previously deferred twice and was postponed during the last CA hearing at the request of Senator Risa Hontiveros.

The wife, with their children, personally appeared at the Senate and narrated several incidents of the AFP official hitting her several times, even when she was pregnant. She also accused him of adultery.