Colmenares: Duterte can use oust plot to declare revolutionary gov’t
Bayan Muna chair Neri Colmenares. INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte can use the alleged “Oust Duterte plot” as a basis for declaring a revolutionary government, Bayan Muna chair and Makabayan senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares warned on Tuesday.
“So other than the attacks on media personalities and human rights lawyers, it can also be used to justify ‘yung isang revolutionary government that kating-kati na talaga ang kamay ni Presidente na maimpose ‘yun,” Colmenares said in a press conference in Quezon City.
Duterte earlier threatened to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, declare a revolutionary war and government, and arrest his critics following statements of caution by opposition lawmakers on his order to review all government contracts and loans with private firms and foreign countries.
READ: Duterte twits Drilon, threatens to suspend writ of habeas corpus
Colmenares, who was linked to the alleged ouster plot, also dismissed as “absurd” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo’s statement that the public should trust the diagram because it came from the Chief Executive.
“The statement na dahil galing ‘yan sa Presidente paniwalaan nyo, that’s the most absurd statement I’ve ever heard lalo na sa presidenteng walang sinabing pwede mong paniwalaan… That is tyranny,” Colmenares said.
“Secretary Panelo made the worst statement a spokesman can make,” he added.
A major broadsheet on Monday published a diagram, titled “Association Matrix Between Bikoy and Ellen Tordesillas.” It showed the links among a certain “Bikoy” who has accused the Dutertes of having ties with a drug syndicate in a series of videos, news site Rappler, media nonprofit Vera Files, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which are allegedly behind an attempt to overthrow Duterte.
READ: Palace confirms ‘oust-Duterte’ plot
NUPL and Colmenares said they are studying the possibility of filing charges against individuals responsible for the diagram.
READ: Bayan Muna, NUPL eye raps after ‘Oust Duterte plot’ accusations
Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief Col. Noel Detoyato said they have not monitored any specific threat to unseat Duterte. /jpv
READ: Crackdown on independent media groups, rights lawyers feared | No specific threat to oust Duterte — military
