ASEANews Headlines: MANILA- No ‘destab’ plot – military
THE Armed Forces of the Philippines vowed on Thursday to be loyal to the Constitution, as it denied claims made by President Rodrigo Duterte himself that some officers were conniving with the opposition to oust him from office.
Col. Edgard Arevalo, the military spokesman, said the Philippine military would remain professional and obedient to the 1987 Constitution “that it has sworn to uphold and to defend.”
“We will never allow ourselves in the ranks of the active service to take direct or indirect participation in any political actions against the present duly constituted authorities,” Arevalo said in a statement.
Speaking in Jolo, Sulu on Monday, Duterte said he was displeased upon learning that some military officers were supposedly in cahoots with the Liberal Party in moves to unseat him.
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Apart from the General Headquarters of the military itself, the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Marine Corps all denied supposed ongoing recruitments in their respective commands to participate in the “Red October” plan supposedly involving the Liberal Party, the Magdalo group and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
The plan was first disclosed to the media by the military’s assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, and later described by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as “factual.”
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Supportive of Duterte govt
Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva, the Army spokesman, said no officer or soldier had been monitored to be involved in plans to oust the President.
“There is no reason for us to lose our loyalty. When you say loyalty, of course, [we refer]to the Constitution. We work for the Constitution, we work for the sovereignty of the state, we are always sticking to that,” Villanueva told reporters.
He that the 96,000-strong army was also supportive of the Duterte administration.
Commander Jonathan Zata, the Navy spokesman, said in jest that the only activities happening in their command was the deployment of a contingent to Vladivostok, Russia for a port call, maritime training activities with the Bruneian and Malaysian navies, and the welcoming of a Japanese destroyer ship.
“As what the [military]chief of staff said, these rumors [of destabilization]should not be dismissed outright, but as I mentioned, I haven’t heard of any rumors of recruitment or anyone being recruited within the navy’s ranks,” Zata told reporters.
The Air Force also denied that some of its officers were part of efforts to remove Duterte from the presidency.
Maj. Aristides Galang Jr., the Air Force spokesman, said the morale of Air Force troopers was “very high” because of the support they were getting from the government.
“With all the platforms we have been receiving and the ongoing modernization program, our troops and officers, we are all focused on the modernization program of the Air Force,” Galang said.
Capt. Jerber Belonio, Marines spokesman, also declared the Marines’ loyalty to the Constitution.
Belonio denied reports that some Marine personnel and officers were getting haircuts to sympathize with Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th, the former Navy officer whose amnesty was revoked by President Duterte.
“So far, nothing out of the ordinary is happening here,” he said.
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‘Share info with NBI’
Malacañan Palace on Thursday urged the military to share its information on the supposed “Red October” ouster plot to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“It is the mandate of the NBI and law enforcement agents to investigate and look into every possible crime that may happen. So, if the military has intelligence information, I hope they can share it with the NBI so we can know who to punish,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said.
In a chance interview after the send-off of 250 prison vehicles at Camp General Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna on Wednesday, Acting Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the movement supposedly headed by the communists was more than a year in the making.
It surfaced recently because the government was in the process of validating these reports, Año said.
He said recruitment was still in the “initial level” and government troops were not budging.
“We are confident, our Armed Forces are isolated from these kinds of [moves],” Año, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces, said./
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