Manila, May 4 -- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers may be called in to serve as Special Electoral Board (SEB) members during the May 12 elections if no other security forces are available, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Sunday.

In Resolution No. 11135, the Comelec en banc authorized AFP members to act as SEB members as a last resort and with prior approval from the AFP Chief of Staff.

Priority for SEB deployment, however, will still be given to trained officers from the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Comelec Chair George Garcia said they initially requested 4,000 officers from the PNP, but the police force has since trained over 9,000 for possible election duties.

"The PNP was able to train and prepare 9...