In a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, AFP National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) chief, said that soldiers deployed in various communities in the metropolis are not "combatants," but members of the civil-military operations (CMOs) group.

However, Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, AFP public information office chief, said that they would investigate reports whether soldiers conducting CMOs went over board by engaging in partisan political activities.

"Certainly, we will not allow that (campaigning of soldiers)," Bacarro said.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos Sr. has written Dolorfino asking him to investigate reports that soldiers were harassing residents in urban- poor areas and campaigning against perceived procommunist organizations which are running under the party- list system.

Dolorfino said that since November last year, soldiers have been conducting dialogues in depressed communities to discuss peace and order problems in a bid to stop the "culture of fighting" in the country.

"These soldiers were trained for non-military approach," Dolorfino said.

He issued the statement in the wake of allegations that several groups of soldiers have been frequenting depressed areas such as Tondo and Sta. Mesa in Manila, Commonwealth in Quezon City, and Signal Village in Taguig to sway residents to vote for administration candidates.

Other reports claimed that the soldiers were campaigning against party-list groups suspected to be allies of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

In recent months, the AFP-Civil Relations Group, under Maj. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado, has been vocal in criticizing party-list groups allegedly supporting the cause of the CPP-NPA.

Dolorfino said none of the soldiers who conducted a dialogue with residents carried guns because they are non-combatants.

He cited the dialogue with the Muslim community in Taguig where they discussed possible solutions in cultural differences with Christians that often lead to violence in the area.

In Tondo, Pandacan, and Sta. Mesa in Manila, Dolorfino said soldiers convinced squatters whose homes would be demolished that they would be given relocation sites by the government.

The dialogue, he said, prompted squatter residents to voluntarily vacate the area, paving the way for the peaceful demolition of shanties and their orderly transfer to government relocation sites.

Dolorfino also assured that all their civil military operations conducted were properly coordinated with local government officials in the affected areas.