There is no existing coalition among the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the Liberal Party (LP), and the Magdalo Partylist, said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez Jr.
Galvez was attending a Senate hearing Tuesday on the budget of the Department of National Defense when he made the pronouncement, even as President Rodrigo Duterte earlier claimed that the said groups were out to oust him.
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“In the information you shared with this committee, this ouster plot is a plot being engineered by the Communist Party of the Philippines and that to quote you, ‘They would like to have a coalition with other forces.’ That is different from ‘They are in coalition with other forces to oust the President,’” Senator Francis Pangilinan told Galvez.
Pangilinan then asked Galvez if there is an existing coalition among the groups linked to the ouster plot dubbed as “Red October,” to which Galvez replied: “Sir, none, sir.”
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The senator assured that the LP will not join any plot to oust the President, noting that it will not be part of any unconstitutional move against the administration.
“We swore an oath to uphold and defend this Constitution, and any unconstitutional act, we will not be party to, and we will oppose,” said Pangilinan, who is also the LP president.
Galvez, meanwhile, denied that the AFP is being used in partisan political activities as it relays information to the public on the ouster plot. /je