Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. on Friday said he rejected calls for the military to oust President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following large anti-government corruption protests in Metro Manila on September 21.
According to him, some retired military officers reached out to him and some younger officers, but their calls were rebuffed.
“[T]here were posters and speeches calling for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be the lead. Some of them were saying that maybe we should withdraw our support for the President,” Brawner told a news forum, referring to last month’s protests.
He added that there were “several calls for us to intervene, and in fact there was some recruitment, so to speak, sad to say some of them retired officers,” with the would-be plotters “trying to reach out to the younger officers, trying to reach out to our commanders, reaching out to me even, and convincing us to intervene.”
The AFP chief said they suggested a “coup d’état, a military junta, in order to come up with a reset of the entire Philippine society, or withdraw our support — so several forms of military intervention.”
“I was confident that none will heed the call to intervene because of the professionalism that we have reached,” Brawner told foreign correspondents, warning that any military involvement in politics would drive investors away and “set us back several years.”
The military general likewise said he and his “battle staff” even met with a group of retired military officers led by former general and vocal Marcos critic Romeo Poquiz, who aired their grievances about alleged corruption in the incumbent government, among others.
Brawner also said some of those pushing for military intervention insisted that “somebody else deserves to be president, but they did not mention who that is.” He added that he told the Poquiz group that the AFP was “solid” in support of the Philippine Constitution.
“We were very clear in our mandate,” Brawner said, noting that he told the President about the plotting and recruitment.
The AFP chief previously said there would be no government overthrow under his leadership: “As long as I serve as Chief of Staff, no coup shall happen. Not on my watch. We will not be shaken by rumor, nor outmaneuvered by noise.”
— With reports from Agence France-Presse
