Palace spokesperson Harry Roque said Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte is not affected by the rumors that some active and retired military officials are withdrawing their support to the commander in chief.
“Kuwentong kutchero po ‘yan. Alam ng kasundaluhan na hindi po panahon para riyan [That is an outrageous tale. The soldiers know that this is not the time for that],” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
Roque added that there is no reason for the military to forcibly remove Duterte from office.
“Hindi nababahala si Presidente. Nirerespeto niya ang Saligang Batas, nirerespeto ng kasundaluhan ang Saligang Batas. Kung siya ay inutil, matagal na siyang tinanggal ng militar. Pero walang dahilan para riyan,” he said.
(The President is not bothered. He respects the Constitution, the military respects the Constitution. If the President was indeed useless, he would have been ousted by the military a long time ago.)
The Palace official also said there is no need for Duterte to speak on Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea, citing that the heads of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense explicitly already called out these Chinese incursions. The Philippines has also filed diplomatic protests against China because of it, Roque said.
Duterte not bothered by coup rumors against him: Roque
“The utterances of the alter-egos are the official utterances of the President, unless they are renounced by the President,” Roque said.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana explicitly said that an online post stating that retired and active military personnel no longer support President Rodrigo Duterte is “fake news.”
“We denounce the irresponsible propaganda being propagated in online posts alleging that a group of retired and active military officers are withdrawing their support for the President,” said Lorenzana.
According to Lorenzana, they will never be part of fake news that will only add to the problem and affect the situation in the country.
Lorenzana appealed to stop the malicious propaganda because every Filipino now needs more unity against the threat of the pandemic and the issue of the West Philippine Sea.