MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said they have evidences to prove that embattled Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the opposition and communists were conniving to oust him.
In a televised one-on-one conversation with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Tuesday, Duterte said he has ordered the evidence of the ouster plot “declassified” and revealed to the public.
“They have combined and we have the evidence, the conversation provided by a foreign country sympathetic to us. We do not have the sophistication but meron, and the connection will be shown any day now,” Duterte said.
“I asked that it be declassified. Ipakita nila sa lahat. It might be a loose conspiracy but they are into it. Sabay-sabay sila,” he added.
This was not the first time Duterte claimed that a “sympathetic” foreign country has been providing him with information against his critics. He had said before that he was handed evidence that pins Sen. Leila de Lima to the illegal drug trade.
Trillanes and opposition leaders, led by Vice President Leni Robredo, have repeatedly denied that they were plotting to unseat Duterte.
‘STAGE A MUNITY’
Meanwhile Duterte said the military is free to oust him by joining the side of Trillanes if they ever lose confidence in or is no longer satisfied with him as a leader.
“Kung kayo may nakita na ginawa si Trillanes para sa inyo, go to them. Stage a mutiny or revolution or whatever,” Duterte said. “You are free to do that. As a matter of fact, I’m encouraging you, para tapos na.”
“Ang sinasbi ko lang sa sundalo ng republika, just be careful na iyong pagsabwatan niyo diyan sa Magdalo,” he added.
Duterte denied that he has signed anything ordering the arrest or silencing of anybody in government. He said he has in fact given his critics “the time of their lives to just talk.”
“The fact that they are doing it every day only goes to show that I’m giving them the time of their lives to just talk,” he said. “It’s an invented phrase kasi iyang silencing.”
“Iyong kay Trillanes, may nakita kasi si [Solicitor General Jose] Calida na mali, pagka mali, mali is mali, hindi mo talaga ma-correct iyan,” he added, pertaining to Trillanes’ amnesty he proclaimed void.
Trillanes faced coup and rebellion charges before two Makati courts and court martial proceedings for allegedly leading failed military uprisings in 2003 and 2007 against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
‘AQUINO ERRED IN AMNESTY’
Duterte also insisted said his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, made a mistake when he let then Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin sign the amnesty of Trillanes.
“Gazmin signed the amnesty itself. It is not possible to do that. Why? Because an act of pardon or amnesty is an act of state. It cannot be delegated to anybody but only to the president,” Duterte said.
Duterte added that the amnesty given by the past administration was just a “motherhood statement” and did not include any particular name.
“The procedure was totally wrong in the sense that they just issued the proclamation, no particular names. They just issued a motherhood statement to cover the individual acts,” he said./PN
