Revolutionary government? Duterte admin focused on COVID-19 response, says Palace

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on August 2, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is focused on addressing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Sunday, amid efforts made a pro-Duterte group to establish a revolutionary government.

Roque noted that the call to form a revolutionary government came from a private group and that the organizers are free to publicly express their opinion.

“The focus, however, of the administration is addressing COVID-19 and mitigating its socioeconomic impact,” he said in a statement.

“The most pressing and most urgent concern, which requires the Executive’s full attention, is the gradual opening of the economy while safeguarding the people who are working/going back to work amid the pandemic,” Roque added.

A group of Duterte supporters,  the People’s National Coalition for Revolutionary Government and Charter Change, on Saturday assembled at Clark Freeport in Pampanga to present a resolution purportedly approved by 300 supporters, including those that it said participated online.

The group urged Filipinos to “join us in the establishment of a revolutionary government for a period not exceeding June 30, 2020 and the adoption of a new Constitution.”

On Friday, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa confirmed that he received an invitation from the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte – National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC) to attend a meeting on August 20 that will push for the creation of a revolutionary government.

MRRD-NECC, an organization that urged Duterte to run for president in the 2016 polls, is the same group that organized the event in Pampanga.Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also later confirmed that his department has received an invitation for the August 20 meeting.

Both the defense department and the national police force, however,  expressed opposition to the creation of a revolutionary government.

gsg