Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. ARNOLD ALMACEN/FILE PHOTO
There is no need to launch a coup d’ etat to topple the Duterte administration when it is “self-destructing” anyway, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Tuesday as he vehemently denied any involvement in such plots.
“Hindi po totoo yan . Alam mo hindi mo na kailangang mag coup sa gobyernong ito dahil nagsasarili naman di ba?” said Trillanes, who led the failed mutiny against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
(That is not true. You know, there is no need for a coup in this government because it is doing it on its own, right?)
“They are self-destructing….What’s unfortunate is they are dragging the whole country down. Ngayon sinasabi nila (Now they say) the hearings are the source of negativity dito sa Pilipinas (in the {Philippines)? Hindi, yung Presidente nila. Murahin mo lahat, pano na (no, it’s their President. [He has] cursed everyone, so how is it going to be)?” he said.
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Trillanes believes that the armed forces remains intact, owing it to former President Benigno Aquino III’s efforts to professionalize its ranks.
“Hindi yan magkakahati-hati. (That won’t disperse.) They will move as one and they will follow the chain of command for as long as the chain of command is true to their mandate sa estado at sa ating mga kababayan (to the state and to our countrymen),” he said.
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The senator reiterated that the only problem was that the country was going down with Duterte.
That was why, he said, he would show to the world that not every Filipino would just bow down to the President, saying that there are also senators who have consciences and are true to their mandate.
Asked if he thinks the administration allies would eventually abandon Duterte, Trillanes pointed out that historically, politicians would always side with the people.
“Kung nasaan ang taumbayan, nandodoon yung mga senador, mga congressmen, mga pulitiko,” he said.
(Where the people are is where the senators, congressmen and the politicians go.)
Asked again if Duterte’s fate would now be up to the people, Trillanes said: “As always, as it should be.” CDG/rga