Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. warned Thursday that the Philippines could face severe economic sanctions, if active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) follow calls from some retirees to take action against the government over alleged corruption in flood-control projects.
Should this extra-constitutional move be done and proves successful, Teodoro said the Philippines will no longer be recognized by many countries and will have difficulty doing business with the rest of the world.
“You will not be recognized by other nations. Your international accounts will be frozen. You cannot do business with other countries. You cannot remit. So, how can you survive?” the Department of National Defense (DND) chief said in a chance interview in Makati City.
Teodoro made the remarks amid continuing rumors of a plot to takeover the government, allegedly orchestrated by frustrated retirees.
He warned that the Philippines could suffer the same fate as Myanmar, which is run by a military junta at present. “I don’t think Filipinos would like that,” Teodoro said.
The DND chief urged the people and those who are still in active service at the AFP to examine the motives of these groups, which were begging them to end the rule of law in the Philippines.
“When you try to persuade the armed forces to rise against the government, you are pushing the military to run the government right? At the end of the day, once that attempt is successful, there will be no more laws—the rule of law is gone),” he explained.
“Who will be benefit from this action? The only ones who will benefit from this are the allies of the nations who are not aligned with the rest of the world,” the DND chief noted.
Teodoro believes that such moves are against the wish of the majority of Filipinos to be free. He also mentioned that the DND under his leadership is pursuing two key thrusts: building internal defense resilience and expanding strategic engagements with like-minded nations.
“The more convergence of like-minded countries at the spear’s tip, the better,” he said at his speaking engagement with the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. “We must resist and deter any attempt to change the international order to the detriment of our people and future generations.”
