The Armed Forces of Philippines ( AFP) reaffirmed their neutral stand amid the political turmoil, after the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) made a statement rejecting calls for President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo's resignation, AFP spokesman said Monday.

"We respect the pronouncement of the CBCP and it is our hope that the pronouncement will somewhat calm the people and we reassure the people that everybody is in favor of constitutional processes," Jose Angel Honrado, the spokesman for AFP, said in a press conference Monday.

The AFP will "always be apolitical, nonpartisan and abide by the constitutional process," the spokesman said.

Although the army's representatives did not attend the CBCP meeting, the army are in constant dialogue with the members of the CBCP so that they could discuss the issues "before it gets out of hand", according to the spokesman.

The Philippine National Police expressed their loyalty to President Arroyo last week, but AFP remained detached from either side of the political turmoil after the Chief of Staff General Abu issued the army an order to stay neutral in its own chain of command.

As to reports of terrorists infiltrating Metro Manila, the army spokesman said the intelligence gathering agencies are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, keeping watch on terrorist groups who are to exploit the situation.

Source: Xinhua