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President Rodrigo Duterte maintained on Saturday that he does not need the loyalty of the military and the police.
Duterte issued the remark following reports that he is now losing the loyalty of the police and the military after revoking the amnesty given to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
“I don’t need loyalty,” Duterte said when asked if he would be conducting a loyalty check on ranks of the military and the police.
“I have made this clear from the beginning, the military should not nurture—for me or for anyone in my Cabinet, any loyalty … I said you should focus your loyalty to the flag of the Philippines and the Constitution,” he added.
According to Duterte,it was Solicitor General Jose Calida who found out the flaw on the amnesty application of Trillanes.
READ: Duterte says it was Calida who found the flaw in Trillanes amnesty grant
Duterte slammed Trillanes, a former Navy officer, for “doing nothing” for the military, saying that he was the one who doubled their wages.
“It was all Trillanes, pretending to be a crusading soldier when as a matter of fact, wala naman silang ginawa,” Duterte said.
“Ako wala ako, isang beses lang ako nagsabi, kampanya. ‘I will double your salary.’ Period,” Duterte said.
He further accused Trillanes of being corrupt and abandoning the military.
“He not only abandoned the vision of the military, he became a corrupt guy, collecting diyan sa mga negosyante. Para siyang abogado,” Duterte said.
“Alam namin ‘yan kasi ang negosyante, maski paano mo taguin, nagsasabi talaga yan,” he added.
Trillanes, however countered Duterte’s allegations.
“Ngayon as regards corruption issues, alam niyo kung meron, dapat ‘yun ang una nilang fi-nile. Kaya ito na nag magic na lang itong si Calida, eh dahil wala nga silang nakita eh,” he said. /muf