SENDING a strong message to the supposed military men behind the coup rumors, a top Palace official chided those who are unsatisfied with the way President Duterte has been handling China’s incursion at the West Philippine Sea to wait for next year’s election so they could cast their vote in favor of the opposition.
In warding off reports of an impending coup perpetrated by some active and retired military officers who have gone mad over President Rodrigo Duterte’s failure to address China’s occupation in the West Philippine Sea, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also denied claims that the President, in his capacity as the commander in chief, was losing military support.
During a Palace briefing, Roque insisted that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) remain loyal to the President and to the country.
“That’s just idle talk. We believe that the military remains loyal to the Republic,” said Roque, who described the alleged ouster plot as “untimely” amid the coronavirus pandemic and the forthcoming presidential elections.
“They know that it is not a time for politics and we will hold elections next year. If they think that the President’s policies were no longer appropriate, then they should not vote for his candidate, but in a democracy, the mandate to [choose a leader] was given to the public and our Armed Forces respects that mandate,” Roque added.
The supposed coup being hatched by active and retired AFP generals have been circulating in social media. A Twitter account dubbed “Info Ops” has been posting about an alleged Viber group composed of 500 military officers who would supposedly withdraw their support to the President if he does not take a stronger stance against China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
The alleged Viber group has floated amid questions on Duterte’s silence over the presence of some 200 Chinese ships at the Julian Felipe Reef, located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone about 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan, even after top officials of the Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs issued strongly-worded statements against China.