Gazmin admits receiving reports of coup plots
Video by Cathy Miranda and Ryan Leagogo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirmed reports of an ouster plot against President Benigno Aquino III amid the growing public outrage over Mamasapano incident that left 44 members of the Special Action Force dead.
“Your honor, we indeed received reports and we are in the process of verifying and confirming these. As far as a coup is concerned, it will entail no military support” Gazmin told Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago at a Senate hearing on Thursday.
The senator said she has received intelligence reports that certain groups are in talks about launching a coup and the plotters were “financed by a man whom the public knows is a very rich man.”
“People engaged in coup plan have been engaged in this cottage industry for so long,” Santiago said.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Gazmin assured that there is no restiveness in the military, adding that the AFP would not support one.
“We are very confident the military will not be involved in the coup,” he said.
The Armed Forces, meanwhile, said in a separate statement that it has “an excellent monitoring system where troop movements and suspicious activities are directly reported to the leaders along the AFP’s chain of command.”
It said it is still verifying the allegations of a coup plot.
“The AFP has brought to bear so much lessons learned from previous experiences both good and bad that matured the AFP into what it is now, a highly professional organization dedicated to its mandated constitutional duty where coup rumors and recruitment will find no place,” it said.
“The incident in Mamasapano will serve as our platform to strengthen our relationship with our counterparts in the Philippine National Police as we work together in fighting the enemies of the state, and in performing our mandate of protecting the people and state,” it added.
It also appealed not to glorify these attempts to divide the nation, saying that soldiers will continuously support the government in solving the country’s problems.
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