Retiring Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. on Tuesday clarified that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s attendance at the AFP Command Conference in Camp Aguinaldo was not a "loyalty check" but part of the military's regular midyear briefing on the country's internal and external security situation.

"Hindi po ito parte ng loyalty check. This is a regular occurrence. Every year, ginagawa po natin 'yan yung mid-year, so first semester, and then second semester towards the end of the year," Brawner explained.

"So, tatlong taon ko na po ginagawa ito na binibrief natin ang ating Pangulo every mid-year and end of the year. So, hindi po loyalty check at hindi po kailangan ng loyalty check," he added.

Brawner said the conference began with a presentation to the President on the AFP's accomplishments before discussions shifted to the military's plans moving forward.

"And then we ended with the way forward, our plans moving forward. So we emphasized, number one, for internal security operations, we emphasized the gains that we have had in terms of reducing the number of NPA fighters, reducing the number of local terrorist group fighters, reducing their firearms and the influence that they have on communities," Brawner told reporters.

On external security, Brawner said military officials also briefed the President on developments in the West Philippine Sea and the AFP's ongoing maritime operations.

"On external security operations, we also discussed the situation that we are facing now in the West Philippine Sea from our northern territory down to our western seaboard. So, ni-report po natin sa ating Pangulo na tuloy-tuloy pa rin po yung ginagawa nating maritime operations among the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the BFAR, including other agencies," he said.

Brawner added that the AFP also highlighted its continuing joint activities with the United States and other partner nations.

"And then we also emphasized the joint activities that we are doing with our ally, the United States, and our partner nations, like-minded nations. So tuloy-tuloy pa rin po yung ating multilateral maritime cooperative activities. Our joint exercises are continuously going on throughout the year. Hindi lang po yung Balikatan ang exercise natin. Marami tayong mas maliliit na exercises. And we also have international exercises," he said.

The AFP chief also said they discussed preparations for the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea, emphasizing the country's continued implementation of the landmark decision.

"At gusto po nating i-emphasize na tuloy-tuloy pa rin po yung pag-implement natin nito unilaterally. And that we have lined up a lot of activities. We started yesterday with our flag-raising ceremony. Sabay-sabay po yung flag-raising ceremony natin, the Department of National Defense, the AFP, all our units. We had a simultaneous flag-raising and we read the message in line with the celebration of our 10th year anniversary of the arbitral ruling," Brawner said.

He said more commemorative activities are scheduled and expressed hope that the media would cover them.

"Because we would like to emphasize really that we are proud of that accomplishment. And in fact, a lot of other countries are looking at us and the way we react to the continuous bullying or what we call ICAD — illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive tactics — of our big neighbor China. So yun lang po ang nangyari," he added.

Brawner said President Marcos directed the military to sustain its gains in internal security while addressing emerging external threats.

"The President's guidance is that we continue working for the internal security operations so that we will continue maintaining and sustaining our gains. Tuloy-tuloy po yung gains natin. And one area that we are looking into is addressing the United Front Works and the foreign malign operations of China also. That is also in line with our external security operations. So yun po yung mga bilin ng ating Pangulo sa atin," he said.