President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday cautioned the public against the opposition and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), whom he accused of conniving to oust him from power.
In a news conference in Davao City upon his arrival from Israel and Jordan, Duterte said the “Yellows,” the members of the Liberal Party, and the communist group “are praying for his ouster.”
“Tatlong ‘yan, bantayan ninyo. Iyang [The] Yellows, Liberals, Trillanes, pati ang [as well the] politburo (CPP’s policy-making body). They have a… We will show it to you. Kaya kayong mga sundalo (That’s why you soldiers) before you jump into the conclusion about… tanungin ninyo intelligence ninyo (you ask first your intelligence) and they will show you,” he added.
“‘Yang tatlong ‘yan bantayan ninyo. Iyan ‘yung mag-a-oust na… oust Duterte and it will go into a higher, October ganun. Bantayan ninyo ‘yan kay ‘yan tatlo na ‘yan konektado lahat ‘yan. Ang problema sa… itong kay Trillanes is, he is also playing with the Communist Party of the Philippines,” (Watch out for those three. They’re behind the oust-Duterte move and they will step it up in October. Watch out for them. They are connected. The problem is that Trillanes is playing with the communists),” the President said.
Duterte made the statements as he downplayed claims that he was fast losing the loyalty of the military and the police.
“I’ve always stressed to the uniformed people of our government that they should not nurture in me or in anybody else in my Cabinet and government loyalties. I said, ‘You should focus your loyalty [on] the flag of the Philippines and the Constitution.’ Sabi ko sa kanila, prangka, sabi ko (I am frank with them), ‘I do not need loyalties,’” Duterte said.
“I was elected as President and I intend to serve. But if somehow there is anything that is really demanded of the moment, then there is no problem. Do not bring me the armor or anything. Just tell me. We can have coffee, I’ll invite you and I will — well, anybody who is interested, I will administer the oath. Now, what followed or what will follow, rather, eh hindi ko na problema ‘yan (that’s not my problem anymore),’” he added.
Trillanes earlier claimed that some active and retired members of the Armed Forces were “very bothered” and “conflicted” by Duterte’s order to invalidate the amnesty granted to him.
“They are definitely conflicted because they are aware that this is all politics. They are not comfortable with that,” the senator said.
Without mentioning particular officials, he said some soldiers were hesitant to follow “illegal orders” from the President.
“The Duterte administration does not have a strong hold of the DND (Department of National Defense) and the
AFP. I am receiving a lot of help because they don’t want the AFP to be used in this political exercise,” Trillanes said.
But Duterte said he would rather not be President if the military stood up for someone like Trillanes, who left them behind.
“Kung magkagulo ito because of Trillanes, diyan na talaga ako hindi bumilib (If there will be chaos because of Trillanes, then that will be the one thing I will not admire about the military),” he added.
“They believed in his word. Ano nagawa niya sa military na para magpakamatay sila (What did he do for the military for them to die for him)? If that is the value that you’d want to preserve, fine. Count me out. If that is the kind of culture of our military, without offending anybody here, I’d rather be not President,” Duterte said.
He added that Trillanes could have urged former Defense chief Voltaire Gazmin or former President Benigno Aquino 3rd to increase the salary of the military by even just five percent but he did not do it.
The President said Trillanes not only left the mission and vision of the military, but also became a “corrupt guy.”
“Nandiyan siya ha (He was there), in Malacañang. And he was taking the cudgels for the military. He not only abandoned the vision of the military, he became a corrupt guy collecting diyan sa mga negosyante (from the businessmen),” he added.
“Remember we never started the ruckus. It was all Trillanes pretending to be a crusading soldier, when as a matter of fact, wala naman silang ginawa (he has done nothing),” the President said.