Duterte: ‘Try to oust me and it’s revolutionary government… and jail for you’

revolutionary government
A big question would be whether the military would support a move to revolutionary government?

President Duterte warned he will declare a revolutionary government and jail his critics if he thought a destabilisation plot was about to topple him.

In an interview aired today (Friday, October 13), the president said that such a possible revolutionary government would last until the end of his elected term.

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The president told his critics that he would create this revolutionary government if he thought they were “about to take over the nation,” and if they had “destabilized government” to the point that they would be in a position to name a new leader.

“Once your destabilisation is already creating chaos, I will not hesitate to declare a revolutionary government until the end of my term, and I will arrest all of you, and we can go to a full-scale war against the Reds,” he said, referring to the Communist New People’s Army.

Duterte said he was not keen on declaring martial law because a revolutionary government took less time to implement.

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“With martial law, I will have to do reporting before Congress. I will declare a revolutionary government, period.”

The president made the remarks in an interview with broadcaster Erwin Tulfo in the state-run PTV show Sa Totoo Lang. The interview was recorded yesterday (Thursday).

‘Not into’ revolutionary government

The president has repeatedly raised the prospect of a revolutionary government. However, in August he said that he was “not into it”.

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Netizens have been swift to comment on his words, questioning whether the powerful military establishment would support such a move.

His latest foray into the topic comes as recent extra-judicial killings, allegedly related to his war on drugs, have fuelled growing public condemnation. Yesterday, we reported that he has now ordered the police to stand down from the anti-narcotics crusade in favour of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

He is also engaged in no-holds-barred sparring with his political opponents — notably Senator Antonio Trillanes — who have accused him of amassing and concealing considerable wealth while Mayor of Davao.

He has angrily denied these claims, and on a number of occasions challenged Sen. Trillanes — a former military officer previously jailed for mutiny — to a gunfight.

The president’s statement on revolutionary government come at 23.45 in the following YouTube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEqC9VxY62Y