Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales said he will not interfere in the decision on who gets to be promoted as the next Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) following reports that three senators running in the May 2010 presidential race have signed a manifesto urging President Arroyo to extend the term of incumbent AFP Chief of Staff, Gen. Victor Ibrado.

While keeping his hands off the issue, Gonzales nonetheless emphasized that with him as the Defense chief, he will see to it that the military will help ensure credible elections in 2010.

Meanwhile, AFP spokesman, Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said Ibrado was surprised about the appeal as he was preoccupied with his duty to accomplish the military’s mission, especially on ending the insurgency problem.

Brawner said Ibrado intends to retire but will follow whatever is the decision of the President.

“Well sa panig ni AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado, number one he still intends to retire on his retirement day which is March 10, 2010,” Brawner said.

“But as of now he says he remains professional at gagawin ang lahat ng kaya niyang gawin hangga’t matapos yung kanyang termino bilang Chief of Staff. So he will do everything to accomplish the mission of the AFP,” Brawner said.

“Whatever is the decision of the President, for example, if his term is extended he will of course follow the orders and will agree to that extension,” he said.

Gonzales, on the other hand, said, “As I said earlier I won’t mind whoever is there. My thinking there is that I should respect the institution in matters of making decision for itself like who gets promoted, who gets assigned to particular position, I will not interfere there. And you know the appointing power is the President.”

Gonzales said since he assumed the post of Defense chief on Monday, he has been going around the different headquarters of the Army, the Navy, and the AFP general headquarters, where he has been discussing issues, including the election.

“Well, the issue of elections. I have said this before and I am re-emphasizing the fact that I think that the issue of the election is very important since we will have a role. Whether we like it or not, the Comelec is really asking the Armed Forces to be part of this role,” Gonzales said.

“I said that maybe we should take up the challenge head-on. Meaning that we have always, you know the armed forces have always been suspected one way or the other to be part of the bad side of the elections rather than the good part. I said let’s confront this issue head on,” he added.

“We are not going to argue with people who are accusing us of manipulating elections in the past. We will just do our job and let’s see after the election, let the people judge on our performance. And I have appealed to the armed forces, that we will do our outmost to make sure that the election of 2010 becomes credible,” he said