The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not the only “protector of the people,” the consultative committee (Con-com) spokesman said on Wednesday.

Con-com spokesperson Ding Generoso clarified that government and not the armed forces is the protector of the people.

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“The role of the government is a protector, so we rephrased it. Your mayor is your protector. Your barangay kapitan is your protector. That is the function of the whole government,” he said in a TV interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

Generoso explained that the removal of the phrase “the Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people” in the proposed charter was “not a mistake” as it was deliberated by the committee

“This phrase, ‘The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people,’ is being interpreted by some quarters as some kind of a right for the armed forces to assert power, invoking the protector clause,” he explained.

“Even the makers of the ‘87 constitution would agree that this phrase is subject to a lot of interpretations,” he added.

Generoso explained that the duties of the AFP are “to protect the integrity of the national territory, to secure the sovereignty of the country, to secure us from external threats, and other things,” instead. Carol Balita /INQUIRER.net intern /muf

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