The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday expressed its apology over the reported presence of their operatives in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.
鈥淭he AFP humbly apologizes for the incident and assures the public and the UP that any inconvenience that arose out of this incident is not intentional. We will work to ensure that this does not happen again,鈥� the AFP said in a statement sent to media.
The AFP鈥檚 admission came after days of being silent about the incident and said it was a 鈥渓egitimate national security operation.鈥�
鈥淭he AFP acknowledges that there were AFP personnel inside the premises of the University of the Philippines recently,鈥� it said.
鈥淭hey were there on a legitimate national security operation. University students and members of the UP faculty were not the subject of that operation as alleged by some quarters,鈥� it added.
Last Wednesday, the Special Services Brigade (SSB) of the UP Diliman noticed 鈥渟uspicious activities involving six men鈥� on board two vans near the College of Education and Sunken Garden.
When questioned by the SSB and UP Diliman Police, one of the six introduced himself as an officer of the AFP.
The six men were turned over to the Anonas police station.
UP Diliman Chancellor immediately expressed concern after the incident that it might be a violation of a provision in the agreement between the university and the DND requiring prior notification of the university of any military operations and UP campuses.
The AFP said, however, that it was 鈥渁 transparent operation that was properly coordinated with the local police.鈥�
鈥淟ikewise, there was no intent to violate the existing 1989 agreement between the DND and UP,鈥� it said.
The operations happened ahead of the protest of 700 lumad from Mindanao form Oct. 26-31 as part of Manilakbayan 2015, which calls for an end to the alleged militarization in Mindanao.