DND says foreign actors stoking coup rumors amid flood scandal unrest

THE PHILIPPINES’ Defense department on Monday said foreign actors were amplifying coup-related rumors as public frustration mounted over the government’s response to a multibillion-peso flood control scandal that has gripped the Southeast Asian nation.

It warned that any attempt to incite “military intervention” against the government would fail, citing strong public support for democratic norms and the armed forces’ continued commitment to political neutrality.

The agency did not identify the foreign actors.

“Foreign-backed quarters are parroting rumors of a military intervention for their own benefit in an attempt to subvert our constitutional processes and hijack the people’s call for accountability and transparency for their own personal political agenda,” the Department of National Defense (DND) said in a statement. “Only enemies of the state wish us to fail.”

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is facing mounting pressure as his administration continues to be rocked by a widening controversy involving substandard, incomplete or nonexistent flood structures in a country regularly battered by flooding.

There were reports of a coup plot against him that circulated on social media last month as thousands of Filipinos took to the streets in the biggest protests in years over the flood control scandal.

A Philippine Navy spokesman warned last week that public outrage over large-scale corruption in flood control projects could leave the country vulnerable to foreign-backed propaganda seeking to provoke unrest.

An OCTA Research poll released on Sunday showed that seven of 10 Filipinos oppose military coups as a means of settling political disagreements amid rising political tensions borne by a widening scandal that has so far implicated politicians, government engineers and private contractors.

“The public’s clear rejection of any form of military intervention in politics underscores a mature democracy and validates the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ steadfast commitment to remain nonpartisan and focused on defending the nation,” the DND said.

The Philippines has a long history of coup plots, with more than a dozen military mutinies since democracy was restored following a popular street uprising that ousted the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. in 1986.

Each succeeding President has seen the threat of a coup by disgruntled troops, with the government of ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte having dealt with alleged plots to unseat him during his 2016-2022 presidency.

Mr. Duterte had also called for military action against his successor amid a political feud between their families. Troops hold the “solution” to Mr. Marcos’ “fractured government,” he said in November, before his arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Court in The Hague in March.

In January last year, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. dismissed alleged plots to oust Mr. Marcos, saying the military had become a professional force that respects the chain of command. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio