PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday insisted that there is a concerted effort by the leftists and the opposition Liberal Party—which he referred to as “the Yellows”—to oust him.
“They want to evict me from Malacañang, so give me time to pack,” he said in Filipino.
The leftist Bagon Alyansang Makabayan, however, said the President was creating ghosts to scare himself.
“There’s no Left-Yellow conspiracy as Duterte seems to be implying. The movement has always been transparent,” Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes said, adding that the recent Luneta rally demanding an end to tyranny and rejecting a return to dictatorship “was no conspiracy.”
On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said that the government is working to counter actions by “enemies of the state,” including Islamic State-inspired terrorists, the communists, drug cartels, “seditious political opposition or ‘Yellowtards’,” and foreign intelligence agencies that seek to generate international support for regime change.
Solicitor General Jose Calida on Wednesday warned groups that attacks on the President are considered subversive.
“What we gathered is that there are black operations against President Duterte that come from various forms and colors…They will not succeed. They are doing subversive activities and we can send them to jail for that,” Calida said.
The chief state lawyer said the supposed investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman of the President’s alleged unexplained wealth was just one among many black operations against the Chief Executive.
Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang earlier said that they are investigating the bank accounts of Duterte and his family.
The documents used as basis for the investigation allegedly came from the Anti-Money Laundering Council but the agency denied providing them to the Ombudsman and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Carandang then issued a statement saying he was merely reading reports from the media.
Calida said Carandang is being helped by two lawyers—a former official of the Office of the Ombudsman and a lawyer who campaigned for a losing presidential candidate in 2016.
“If there are any subversive organizations helping Carandang, we will also defend the republic against them,” Calida said.
The government, he added, is now investigating the conspiracy to oust Duterte. “We are getting information from various sources on this conspiracy,” he said.
Earlier, Aguirre said the “yellows” are intensifying moves to oust Duterte.
When asked why the opposition badly wants Duterte out of office, Calida said: “The political losers cannot accept the fact that they loss to a mayor from Davao City; and it is a matter of political lust. They want to regain their political power and they are using many issues like the EJK [extrajudicial killings], death of minors.”
“They are throwing everything at the President,” the state lawyer said.
Calida also lashed out against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang, who announced an investigation into Duterte’s alleged hidden wealth.
“The Office of the Ombudsman is mandated to protect the people, not mislead them. Carandang, however, willingly allowed himself to be a tool for political harassment. There is a clear case of grave misconduct on the part of DO Carandang as any publicity issued by the Office of the Ombudsman must be balanced, fair and true,” Calida said in a statement.
Aguirre earlier disclosed that bank accounts of people identified with the opposition are being investigated.
Aguirre declined to provide details of the probe, but admitted that the investigation involved offshore bank accounts of “mostly yellow” personalities in Switzerland, Malaysia and Australia.
“Yellow” is the color associated with the opposition Liberal Party, which President Duterte accused of plotting his ouster from Malacañang.