Palace insists Reds, LP, Trillanes conniving to oust Duterte

Malacañang insisted on Tuesday that some members of the Liberal Party (LP), as well as Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, are conniving with the communist rebels to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We are convinced that some members of the Liberal Party are in collusion with the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army). Now, Trillanes has made no secret that he wants to oust President Duterte and I think his language speaks for itself,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.

Roque’s statement came hours after Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez Jr. said there was no coalition between the communist rebels and the Liberal Party.

READ: No coalition between Reds, opposition to oust Duterte — AFP

Galvez’ remarks were in contrast with Duterte’s earlier statement, claiming that the LP, the communist party, and the Magdalo Group were conniving to overthrow him.

READ: Duterte: Reds, Magdalo, political rivals plotting to oust me

But Roque said he found no inconsistency with the statement of Galvez.

“It could be true that there is no formal memorandum of agreement between the party itself and the CPP-NPA [but] it does not prevent leading personalities with the Liberal Party from having such collusion [with the communists],” he said.

The Palace official said Galvez “has not discounted that individual members of the LP are in fact colluding. So there’s absolutely no inconsistencies with this statement.”

“I’m sure individuals members of the Liberal Party as the President said maybe in collusion with the CPP-NPA,” he said.

“The chief of staff said that the party itself probably has no memorandum of agreement  but he has not discounted that individual members of the LP are in fact colluding. So there’s absolutely no inconsistencies with this statement,” he added.

Trillanes is a former member of the the Magdalo, a group of rebel soldiers who railed about anomalies in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“He has repeatedly called for the ouster of the President. So there is no inconsistency. He has actually verbalize time again that he (Duterte) should step down, he should be removed from office, he should be sent to jail, there’s absolutely no inconsistency,” Roque said.

Duterte on September 11 said he had evidence from a “foreign country sympathetic to us” that the rebels, the Magdalo group, and the LP were in cahoots to oust him.

“No one will admit that. But there is intel information in this regard and as far as we are concerned we are considering all these information as valid information and we are ready to face them,” Roque said.

‘Red October’ not fiction

Roque denied that the “Red October,” a supposed plot to oust Duterte, was only a product of the government’s imagination.

“Well, let them think so, but this is based on intel and we can’t dismiss intel. What else do you want me to say? They say it’s fiction; I’m saying it’s not,” he said.

Asked if the President would order the arrest of those allegedly involved in the ouster plot, Roque said only if the alleged plotters pose “clear and present danger.”

“For as long as they don’t constitute a clear and present danger, siguro hindi pa gumagalaw ang gobyerno,” he said.

He reiterated that the destabilizers of Duterte won’t succeed in overthrowing the President.

“Paulit-ulit naman ako, magplano ka ng magplano, hindi kayo magtatagumpay. So hiwalay natin ‘yung kagustuhan sa katunayan na hindi po sila suportado ng taongbayan,” he said. /je