Marcos dismisses loyalty check: No such thing among military, police, he says

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. does not see the need for a loyalty check of military officials and police personnel amid his rift with Vice President Sara Duterte.

In an interview with reporters in Malacañang, Marcos said the political climate in the country remained “stable.”

“The government is functioning properly. Although there’s a lot of noise — that’s all it is, it’s all just noise,” he said.

The issue of a loyalty check came up again after Marcos presided over a security command conference at Camp Crame, Quezon City, on 12 December. A lockdown was imposed during the event.

“Hindi ko naiintindihan ang term na yan (I don’t understand that term) because I don’t know how you conduct a loyalty check. At least not…when you call a command conference…because in the military, the police, we don’t have that,” he said.

“Wala kaming ganoon (we don’t do that), I only hear it in the media. So I was just wondering how you define a loyalty check. Anyway, it’s just a stupid question,” he said.

Last week, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson BGen. Jean Fajardo said the command conference presided over by Marcos “was not a loyalty check” but the third meeting among members of the national peace and order council for this year.

“There is no need to conduct a loyalty check because, time and again, we say the PNP will remain loyal to the Constitution and to our duly constituted authorities,” Fajardo said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also maintained its apolitical and non-partisan stand amid the shaky political climate.

AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military’s professionalism remained intact despite the ongoing political turmoil in the government.