SENATOR Alan Peter Cayetano claimed Friday that some drug lords were financing a destabilization plot against President Rodrigo Duterte to protect their illegal business.
Cayetano, a staunch Duterte ally, said he had no specific information and could not drop names but he knew about a destabilization plot as early as during Duterte’s presidential campaign.
“I do not know what specifically the drug lords are financing, what I am saying is it is part of a plan of organized crime to use their money so that they can continue their business and get rid of Duterte,” Cayetano told reporters.
He said there was “pending money” to get rid of the President although he was “not at liberty” to talk about it.
He slammed the politicians and human rights group that he said were also taking part in the destabilization efforts against Duterte.
For instance, he said, the act of Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV calling Duterte a “dictator, mass murderer and plunderer” was part of the destabilization plot despite their denial.
“They say there’s no destabilization but on the other hand they want to oust the President. If that is not destabilization then what is?” Cayetano said.
He said human rights groups and politicians should “separate” their political agenda from their advocacies.
“There is a different intention in improving the police enforcement and there is a different target to oust the President. These are different objectives but they go together,” Cayetano said.
He said he does not blame human rights groups from advocating a “more humane” approach to the illegal drugs campaign but it should not mix with politics.
He cited human rights groups’ concern over De Lima’s arrest and detention making it seem like the President himself was behind it.
“Are they now saying our courts are under Duterte and we have a dictatorship? The style of the group of De Lima and Trillanes is to weaken the court system and make it appear to the international community that there is no law and order in the Philippines,” Cayetano said.
“[The] problem with human rights group is they’re involving themselves in politics.”