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Raissa Robles

The Philippines’ armed forces chief has moved to quell fears of political intervention after a bitter Senate leadership crisis triggered tighter security, stalled military promotions and fuelled concern that partisan groups could exploit “rumblings” inside the ranks.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr acknowledged unease among some personnel but told This Week in Asia that the military would remain out of politics.
“Political intervention is far from our mandate,” Brawner said on Wednesday. “We will continue to be a disciplined and professional armed forces.”
His comments came as the 24-member Senate remained paralysed by an unresolved leadership row, with two senators both claiming to head the chamber and rival blocs asserting control over its operations.
The dispute has stalled legislation, delayed the promotion of five generals and other military officers and raised the stakes around the Senate’s expected handling of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial.
It has also unfolded against the backdrop of a deepening feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and Duterte-Carpio, his 2022 running mate, whose alliance has collapsed into the country’s most consequential political rift.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief with close military ties, on Tuesday urged the armed forces and national police “to be discerning”.
“Unscrupulous, power-hungry groups and destabilisers are out to take advantage of the confusion or the situation and may seek to mislead some of our uniformed personnel,” Lacson said.
“I am not saying our uniformed services are unprofessional. But in the middle of confusion, they may mistake unscrupulous groups for their allies.”
Lacson said he believed the unease inside the military was linked to a press conference held last week by 18 retired military officers inside the Senate building, where they raised grievances over the armed forces and criticised the Marcos administration.
He said both developments appeared “connected” and formed part of broader efforts to destabilise the government.
Brawner confirmed there was unease within the ranks, but framed it as a mix of career grievances and concern over the country’s political drama.
“As to the rumblings inside the military, it is just natural that there are disappointments among our personnel caused by a variety of reasons such as not being promoted, not getting their desired positions, et cetera, and then there are disappointments caused by the political drama that is happening now in our country,” Brawner said.
But such concerns would not pull the armed forces into the political fight, he said. “We have gone a long way from those days of military adventurism. Our troops are now more aware of their proper roles.”

The military has been urged by some figures to take sides in the bitter political feud between Marcos and Duterte-Carpio, whose alliance collapsed after she resigned from the presidential cabinet in June 2024. She later publicly threatened to have the president, his wife and the House speaker assassinated if she were killed – comments that were included among the allegations cited in her impeachment.
Last November, retired air force chief Major General Romeo Poquiz led several fellow retired officers in publicly appealing to soldiers to withdraw their support from their commander-in-chief, Marcos, and switch their loyalty to Duterte-Carpio.
Brawner said such appeals had not changed the military’s obligation to stay out of partisan politics, even if soldiers were privately watching the country’s political turmoil.
“Soldiers are observing the political climate and on a personal level they are concerned but duty dictates to all of us to remain out of partisan politics. We keep our comments to ourselves. We just do our duties.”
A high-ranking senior military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, struck a similar note, saying the armed forces would remain non-partisan and follow the chain of command.
“We follow orders and are committed to our mandate of protecting our country,” the officer told This Week in Asia.
He described internal grievances as “minimal”, saying a functioning promotion system and a grievance mechanism were in place.
Many of the complaints being circulated were “just partisan political noise”, he said, accusing one political side of trying to convince soldiers to speak or act so their cause would appear to have military backing.

Security fears
The Senate leadership fight has raised the stakes around the chamber’s handling of Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial, with rival blocs also clashing over who controls its operations, finances and security response.
At the centre of the dispute are Alan Peter Cayetano, a staunch Duterte ally who claims he remains Senate president, and Sherwin Gatchalian, the senator recognised by the Marcos administration and the House of Representatives as acting Senate president.
Gatchalian’s bloc declared all Senate posts vacant on June 3 and named him “Acting Senate President”, while Cayetano has refused to step aside.
The dispute has split the Senate into rival camps, with both sides claiming authority over a chamber where a simple majority can declare all leadership posts vacant but at least 13 votes are needed to select a Senate president.
By Wednesday, the Cayetano bloc had been reduced to 11 while the Gatchalian bloc had 12.
Gatchalian said on Wednesday that the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines had recognised him as the official signatory for Senate cheque disbursements, which he described as proof of his “operational control” of the chamber.
“The clearest [sign of his leadership] is my operational management and operational control of the Senate. Land Bank has already completed the transfer of signatures so we will now be signing the issued cheques to debit from the Senate account,” Gatchalian told reporters.
“I think that is, for me, clear evidence that we have operational control of the Senate.”


Gatchalian also ordered Senate employees to work from home and tightened security, saying National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag had warned “someone will sow trouble inside the Senate and they might be armed”.
Cayetano dismissed the warning in a Facebook statement, accusing the NBI of being “clearly partisan” and “a party to violence within these walls”.
He was referring to a May 13 shooting incident inside the Senate when security officers fired at NBI agents whom they claimed were trying to enter the premises to arrest Senator Ronald Dela Rosa over his alleged role in the International Criminal Court’s crimes against humanity case involving detained former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Dela Rosa, a former national police chief and close Duterte ally, has since gone missing.
Cayetano’s statement appeared on Facebook but not on the official Senate website, which now refers to Gatchalian as “Acting Senate President”.


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Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr says the military will stay out of politics despite some unease within the ranks


Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr says the military will stay out of politics despite some unease within the ranks.


Philippine military chief assures no political intervention amid Senate turmoil

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr says the military will stay out of politics despite some unease within the ranks

Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr says the military will stay out of politics despite some unease within the ranks