Sotto: Oust Duterte plot won’t fly

MANILA, Philippines — The reported ouster plot against President Rodrigo Duterte won’t fly.

So said Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III when sought for comment on Monday on the said ouster plot allegedly involving some media organizations.

“The cat is out of the bag,” Sotto said in a text message.

“It does not have wings, therefore won’t fly,” he added.

While he said he has not heard of any ouster plot against the President, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III urged the public not to entertain any such idea.

“I urge everybody to trust our democratic processes. In a democracy like ours, political leadership should be determined by the ballot,” Pimentel said in a separate statement.

The alleged Duterte ouster plot was first reported by the Manila Times, which quoted a highly placed source.

The report also posted an alleged matrix titled “Association Matrix Between BIKOY and ELLEN TORDESILLAS” with names of personalities supposedly linked in the alleged plot.

Included in the matrix were media groups Vera Files, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Rappler and the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL).

Malacañang later confirmed the ouster plot.

READ: Palace confirms existence of ‘Oust-Duterte plot’

“The source of that (matrix) is from the Office of the President, from the President himself. I don’t know how he got one, but it’s coming from the President,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing. /ee