Palace confident Duterte can’t be ousted through ‘people power’
MALACAÑANG ON Monday told critics of President Rodrigo R. Duterte that they cannot overthrow him through “People Power,” referring to the peaceful revolution that ended the two-decade Marcos dictatorship in 1986.
“Alam n’yo po iyang people power, sinuportahan din po natin iyan. Pero sinuportahan natin iyong People Power na ’86 kasi iyong tinanggal sa puwesto wala nang mandato. Hindi n’yo po mapi-people power ang tao na merong mandato (You know, that people power, we too supported that. But we supported the People Power ’86 because the one we ousted from position no longer had the people’s mandate. You cannot ‘people-power’ someone who has mandate,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing at the Palace.
Mr. Roque noted that Mr. Duterte beat his critics’ candidate by six million votes in the 2016 elections.
He also reiterated that the administration stands firm on its earlier pronouncement that the communist groups in the country and the opposition are plotting to remove Mr. Duterte from his seat.
“We have no doubts that the AFP has intelligence information on this. We have no doubts that the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) has been out to overthrow the governments since they were founded. We have no doubts that there are power hungry individuals in the opposition who would like to resort to extra constitutional means to bring down the government of President Duterte. And we have no doubts that the Magdalo group are addicted to coup d’états,” Mr. Roque said.
At the same time, Mr. Roque said the Palace is “confident” that the Duterte administration “enjoys overwhelming support from the people, and therefore what this groups would want to see — the ouster of President Duterte — will not happen.”
Citing the latest Social Weather Station Survey on the President’s war on drugs, Mr. Roque said: “I’m happy to state that 8 of 10 Filipinos support the President on the war on drugs. This is an overwhelming support from the Filipino people. It validates the importance the President has given to the war on drugs. It validates the means by which the President has been implementing this war on drugs. Of course, foreigners, don’t agree but the President does not give a hoot about what the foreigner say. He only cares about what his people have said and the people have rendered their judgment on the basis of this survey.” — Arjay L. Balinbin
US gives $2.2M ammunition for PHL counter-terrorism training
THE UNITED States government has provided more than five million rounds of ammunition worth P117.4 million ($2.2 million) to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for counterterrorism training.
In a statement on Monday, the US Embassy said the ammunition was funded as a grant through the US Counter-terrorism Train and Equip Program. The defense asset will be used by the Philippine Army’s Light Reaction Regiment and the AFP Joint Special Operations Group.
It was delivered to the Clark Air Base in two batches last Sept. 7 and 21
“The United States, as a long-standing friend, partner, and ally of the Philippines, continues to provide support to the AFP through both grant assistance and expedited sales of arms and munitions to assist both long-term AFP modernization goals as well as urgent counterterrorism and humanitarian aid and disaster relief requirements,” the US Embassy said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
