The Philippine military said on Thursday that they will not allow candidates running in the upcoming May elections for Congress and local governments to campaign within soldiers' camps.

"All military camps are off limits to political campaigns," Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon told a press conference, noting that the Constitution provides that soldiers should not be directly or indirectly engaged in partisan political activity except to vote.

Esperon said that he will issue a formal directive to all commanders that orders them to "prohibit the entry inside camps of any political candidate without distinction, except for official business."

Esperon added that his order also prohibits the display of posters, leaflets, stickers and banners of any political candidate inside military camps and restricts solders and civilian employees from endorsing or campaigning for any candidate.

Esperon's order is considered a reiteration of a directive issued by former military chief Narciso Abaya three months before the 2004 presidential elections.

The current military chief has vowed to insulate the officers and men from publicly sensitive political affairs in the wake of the upcoming elections.

Source: Xinhua