AMID the alleged “Red October” ouster plot against him, President Duterte has called on the military to shun any alliance with government enemies if they were “true to your country.”
The President issued the statement after expressing resentment towards some members of the military who were allegedly in cahoots with some opposition forces to overthrow him from power.
Duterte asserted that the military and police need only tell him that he was unfit to lead the country, and he would leave his post to avoid bloodshed.
“Ang sakit ko dito, kayong mga Liberal, pati ‘yung ibang sa military, nakipag-ugnayan sila kay, ‘yung mga sundalo na rebelde. Tapos ‘yun na ‘yun, iyong tatlo. Yellow, mga sundalo na, hindi ko maintindihan ang utak kung saan ang loyalty nila, pati ‘yung mga Liberal,” he said during a media interview in Jolo, Sulu last Monday.
“Diyan ako naghihinakit sa kanila ‘yung mga sundalo na ‘yan. Hindi na bale magalit sila sa akin, wala ‘yon. But to go into a cahoots sa, with the kalaban, ako isa lang ako eh. Pwede man ako mahulog ngayon,” he said.
Duterte, who previously claimed that communist rebels and his political rivals were plotting to remove him by next month, maintained that the country’s soldiers must loyal to the country at all times.
He said they should tell him straight if they were no longer satisfied with his performance. “If you are true to your country, do not bed with the enemy. Sabihin mo, ayaw mo akong Presidente, si Duterte kasi bugok, walang alam, eh okay lang, fine. Maghintay lang sila ng election, three years away,” he added.
The military recently bared that the communist rebel group was behind the alleged Red October conspiracy to oust Duterte. The group was allegedly conniving with the Liberal Party and Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV and his Magdalo Group in the alleged ouster plot.
The President, in his remarks last Monday, renewed his offer to step down if the military was not satisfied with his governance. He acknowledged that no ouster plot would prevail without the support of the military.
“Nothing will succeed without the help of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. If the military, the Armed Forces, and the police think na hindi ako bagay na maging Presidente, sabihan nila ako. Walang away-away,” he said. “Kung sabihin nila na dapat palitan ako, larga ako,” he said. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)
