Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s allegations of a conspiracy to oust him have substance, former leader Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Senator Panfilo Lacson have said.
“Based on my own experience having been a president, if President Duterte believes there is a threat, he is working from good information,” said Arroyo, who is now Speaker of the House of Representatives. “So, we should believe what says.”
Early this month, Duterte said information had been received from a “foreign power” about an alleged plot by three groups to oust him from the presidency.
He alleged one of these groups was being led by Senator Antonio Trillanes, while another was spearheaded by the Liberal Party and a third by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Aside from the CPP, which has been engaged in a nearly half-century long struggle to wrest political power, Trillanes’ group which is made up of former military mutineers, has a history of violent attempts to overthrow the elected government.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Deputy Chief of Operations, Brig. Antonio Parlade said the three groups had hatched the “Red October” plot to destabilise the Duterte administration.
He added that some military officials were involved in the plan.
Meanwhile Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief, said it would be impossible for Duterte to satisfy everyone, especially those in the military.
“While the president is very supportive and consistently at that, upon his assumption gave all possible goodwill to the armed forces, he cannot have 100 per cent or absolute support from all the soldiers and officers,” he said.
He said there would be some elements who due to discontent, or for reasons related to advancement of their own career, were open to possible recruitment for a coup.
“The AFP should be conducting loyalty check by way of counter-intelligence and other built-in mechanisms available to them even without being directed by the president. That should already be automatic,” he said.
The reason over the perceived restiveness within the military was a decision by Duterte last August to void the amnesty given by then President Benigno Aquino III to Trillanes.
Trillanes was involved in three attempts to grab power during the administration of President Arroyo — the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, the Standoff at the Marine Headquarters in Taguig in 2006 and the so-called Peninsula Hotel Siege in 2007.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said it would be difficult for any group to oust Duterte from power.
“When you won by the margin that the president had in the 2016 elections and when you have this kind of support being shown in surveys, it would be difficult to oust the President,” Roque said.
Duterte had 38.5 per cent of the votes during the 2016 elections and his policy decisions get support from most Filipinos
