Senator Antonio Trillanes said Sunday that President Rodrigo Duterte was being paranoid when he spoke of a plot by the Liberal Party and communist rebels to oust him over the weekend.
“He’s imagining things because he’s already paranoid,” Trillanes said in Filipino.
Vice President Leni Robredo, leader of the LP, dismissed the President’s claim as well.
In her radio program on Sunday morning, Robredo said the opposition has been made “a whipping boy” as the government looks for an excuse for its shortcomings.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, LP president, also denied Duterte’s allegation, and said the administration was “destabilizing itself.”
“The opposition does not have to do anything. On its own, either by its incompetence or corruption, the government is doing a good job of destabilizing itself, Pangilinan said.
In a speech upon arriving from Jordan, the President said three groups were out to remove him from office.
“Those three, watch them closely. The yellow Liberals, Trillanes, and the politburo… Watch them closely, those three. They are all connected,” Duterte said. “They are the ones who will oust me, and it will go into [high gear in] October,” he added.
The Armed Forces hierarchy on Sunday declared that the 130,000 military force remained strong and united amidst attempts by some sectors to sow intrigue and polarize the rank and file over Duterte’s decision to revoke Trillanes’ amnesty.
“Let me belie claims by some quarters of divisiveness or rumblings in the AFP. I assure our people that, as in many times in the past, the AFP will be united and strong as an organization,” said AFP chief Gen. Carlito Galvez.
“Let me then, as the AFP chief of staff, take this occasion to warn persons who or groups that attempt to divide the AFP by sowing intrigues and discord among its officers and enlisted personnel,” Galvez said. “You will not succeed.”
He reminded members of the military to refrain from taking part in partisan politics.
“Our loyalty is to the Constitution,” he said.
Galvez has already ordered the creation of a General Court Martial that would resume hearings that were deferred after Trillanes was granted Amnesty in 2011.
He said, however, that no attempt would be made to arrest Trillanes until the Supreme Court has ruled on the matter.