AFP running background checks vs. poll foreign meddling

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines is conducting background checks on all candidates in the May midterm elections to counter possible foreign interference and malign influence activities.

Armed forces chief Gen. Romero Brawner Jr. made the statement in response to a question about whether authorities have monitored foreign actors attempting to influence the elections.

“Ang isang tinitignan ng AFP ngayon is, through our intelligence operations, tinitignan natin yung mga kandidato. Lahat ng mga kandidato, tinitignan natin yung kanilang background. So meron po tayong background check,” he said in a press conference with the Commission on Elections and the Philippine National Police on Thursday, Jan. 9.

[Translation: One thing the AFP is looking into now, through our intelligence operations, is monitoring the candidates. We are reviewing all candidates and examining their backgrounds. So we are conducting background checks.]

Brawner said the operation aims to prevent a repeat from past elections.

“And pag meron po kaming nakita na mga red flags, we will inform the Comelec about this. Dahil nga ayaw natin maulit yung nangyari noong nakaraang eleksyon na may mga nakalusot na mga kandidato,” he said.

[Translation: And if we identify any red flags, we will inform the Comelec about it. This is because we want to avoid a repeat of the previous election, where some candidates managed to slip through.]

While Brawner did not name names, much controversy hounded Alice Guo, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, who was at the center of an offshore gaming scandal and accused of being a Chinese spy. The Comelec filed a case against her for material misrepresentation in her 2022 candidacy after her fingerprints matched those of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, making her unfit for public office.

In a separate statement, the AFP said it is intensifying intelligence operations to assist the Comelec in ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and safeguarding national security, emphasizing that the armed forces remains “strictly non-partisan.”

“This initiative is conducted in coordination with the Comelec and PNP, and focuses on identifying potential security threats arising from foreign interference and malign influence," AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said.