By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday assured it fully supports the vision of President Rodrigo Duterte to eradicate crime in the country.
“For a particular scenario, we fully support the vision of the President and we saw its results. We became effective in our campaign where we noted a 57-percent decline in crime and that is because of the vision of the President,” said Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar. director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), during the weekly ‘Kapihan sa Manila Bay’ in Malate, Manila.
Eleazar was reacting to the President’s appeal to the police and military not to overturn the government during his term.
“This is the first time in my 36 years of service since I joined the PMA (Philippine Military Academy), that I saw a President who has a genuine concern for the military and police. His concern for us is really obvious to the point that he gives us what we request but in return, we should do our jobs well. Otherwise, we will be fired,” he said.
The Metro Manila top cop said he interprets the President’s statement as a reminder for police officers and soldiers to abide by the Constitution.
“As for our ranks, we do not have any thoughts of doing anything that will violate the Constitution,” Eleazar said in Filipino.
Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, echoed Eleazar’s remarks.
“There is no such thing as a destabilization plan from the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP. I can assure you that. I don’t think there is something like that,” Albayalde said in a separate interview with reporters.
Asked on where could have the President’s statement came from, Albayalde said he is not privy about it.
“The President has an unlimited source of information. We do not know where he got that,” Albayalde added.
In his speech during the 72nd anniversary of the Philippine Air Force at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City Tuesday, Duterte said staging a coup would not be necessary since he was willing to step down if he was asked to.
Stressing he wanted to avoid violence, Duterte said soldiers and policemen who no longer find him deserving to lead the country could simply talk to him over a cup of coffee.
This is not the first time Duterte mentioned coups in his speeches.
In February this year, Duterte scolded military and police officers allegedly planning coup attempts to return the power of the government to political rivals.
The President, in September 2018, has also described coup attempts as a “waste of time” since he was willing to step down if they were discontented with his leadership.
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