The Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) refuted posts circulating online claiming that a group of active and retired military officers have withdrawn their support for President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
In a statement posted yesterday on his official Facebook page (facebook.com/dellorenzana/) , Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana denounced the online posts as “fake news” and an “irresponsible propaganda” of critics of the government.
“This is fake news! I am not, and will never be, a part of any such group — neither are the officials at the Department of National Defense, many of whom are also retired military officers.”
Lorenzana added that the disinformation is an “act of reckless agitation emanating from detractors, who have a limited and myopic appreciation of issues.”
“You are not helping our country and people at all,” he wrote.
Moreover, AFP Chief of Staff General Cirilito Sobejana does not believe that the aforementioned military officers would join a Viber group that discusses the “inaction” of the President on the territorial issue of the West Philippine Sea.
Sobejana and Lorenzana are now calling on the “destabilizers” to halt the spread of “malicious statements” especially that the country is facing a crisis.
“We call on these destabilizers to cease from propagating malicious statements especially at a time when our people should all be coming together in the face of the challenges that we are all currently facing,” Lorenzana wrote.
Report from PTV News/NGS-jlo
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