Manila: A senior Philippine official has said there is an apparent plot to destabilise the government of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Pointing to recent events in the country, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said there seems to be a concerted effort to undermine the stability of the Duterte government as shown in recent developments.
On Monday a Davao City policeman, who had earlier denied the existence of the so-called “Davao Death Squad (DDS)”, appeared before the public anew, claiming executioners took orders from Duterte when he was mayor of the city.
Senior Police Officer 3 Arthur Lascañas of the Davao City Police said during a press conference on Monday that alleged killings by the DDS indeed took place, and they were carried out upon orders of Duterte.
In October 2016, he had vehemently denied that the DDS existed.
The development targeting Duterte also followed renewed allegations from Senator Antonio Trillanes that Duterte had been maintaining secret bank accounts against the rules on public officials declaring their net worth.
“I am reiterating my challenge to President Duterte to release the transaction history of his bank accounts and if my allegations are proven wrong, I would immediately resign as Senator,” Trillanes said last Thursday.
In the run up to the May presidential elections last year, it had already been alleged by Trillanes that the then Davao City mayor had been maintaining billions of pesos in bank accounts in his name as well as names of his relatives.
Andanar said there was an ongoing effort to erode the popularity of Duterte, adding they had received an intelligence report that a mass action was being planned in time for the commemoration of the February 23-25 EDSA uprising in 1986 that toppled the government of then President Ferdinand Marcos Senior.
The presidential palace official said he could not reveal details of the supposed plot as officials were still in the process of confirming this development.
Meanwhile the military, which itself has played a hand in destabilisation efforts in previous administrations, said it was yet to detect any suspicious movements.
“We have yet to sense any efforts to destabilise the current administration,” Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office chief, Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo said.
Arevalo said, while they had not detected any suspicious movements, the armed forces were ready to respond to any threats to government stability.
“If there are indeed threats from within, these groups will not get backing from the military as the current chief executive is providing necessary support to the men in uniform,” he said.
