Malacañang —Expressed confidence that any plot to oust President Rodrigo Roa Duterte would not be supported by the Filipino people. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said this in a Palace press briefing as he confirmed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has intelligence information on the so-called “Red October,” a destabilization plot allegedly being orchestrated by communist rebels.
“We have no doubts that the AFP has intelligence information on this. We have no doubts that the CPP-NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army] has been out to overthrow the government since they were founded. We have no doubts that there are power-hungry individuals in the opposition who would like to resort to extra-constitutional means to bring down the government of President Duterte.
And we have no doubts that the Magdalo group are addicted to coup d’etats,” Roque stressed. The Palace official, however, said the administration remains confident that such plans would never materialize because the President continues to enjoy the overwhelming support of the public. “When you won by the margin that the President had in the elections and when you have this kind of support being shown in surveys, mahihirapan po silang patalsikin ang Presidente,” Roque said. T
he Palace Spokesperson was particularly referring to the second quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), which showed that eight out of 10 Filipinos remained satisfied with the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs. “This is an overwhelming support from the Filipino people. It validates the importance that the President has given to the war on drugs. It validates the means by which the President has been implementing this war on drugs.
The people have rendered their judgment on the basis of this survey,” Roque stated. “Kung ang pinag-uusapan po ay ‘yung pinakamalaking isyu na binabato nila sa Presidente, itong war on drugs, sorry po sa oposisyon, naninindigan pa rin ang taumbayang Pilipino dito po sa kampanya ni Presidente,” he added. The Cabinet official also claimed that the Palace is not bothered by threats of a People Power revolution possibly ousting the Chief Executive, stressing that the people themselves gave him the mandate to serve for a fixed term of office. “Hindi niyo po mapi-People Power ang tao na mayroong mandato. Tinalo po ng Presidente ‘yung kandidato nila ng six million votes. Huwag na po silang managinip ng People Power para matanggal si Presidente sa kanyang posisyon,” Roque said. “People Power will work kung wala pong mandato ‘yung tinatanggal.
It will not work when the people elected the President to a fixed term of office,” he further noted. Meanwhile, Roque said should the President’s opponents succeed in overthrowing his administration, they would have to answer to the Filipino people, whom he described would be the “offended party” in the situation.
“Ang nagbigay po ng mandato sa Presidente para manungkulan ay ang taumbayan. So kung sila po ay magiging matagumpay na patalsikin ang isang hinalal ng taumbayan, ang offended party po rito ay sambayanang Pilipino,” he stressed. Palace welcomes PH’s 6.5% growth outlook for 2018 During the same press briefing, Malacañang welcomed the latest Philippine growth outlook reported by British investment bank and financial services company Barclays.
The report stated that the country is seen to reach a growth close to 6.5 percent in 2018. According to Secretary Roque, the positive forecast was attributed to structural inflows including Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) remittances, foreign direct investments (FDI), and government spending.
“So umaasa pa rin po ang Barclays, gaya ng gobyerno natin, na makakamit pa rin natin ang mataas na growth rate sa kabila ng lahat ng mga pagsubok na dinanas natin nitong mga nakalipas na buwan,” he noted. (PCO-Content)
