By PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA — Reacting to a Panay News editorial, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said there is an ongoing “media operation” aimed at discrediting him.
“I believe there is an operation going on,” Trillanes told this paper in a phone interview. “I cannot be happy about it.”
The editorial titled, “Trillanes gossip,” that came out in the print and online editions of Panay News on Aug. 3 criticized the senator for telling the media that retired military officers were planning a coup d’état against the Aquino administration.
It dismissed Trillanes’ story as “all hot air” and “barbershop tale.”
His facts are “hollow” and “inaccurate,” according to the Sunday editorial. These should not be taken seriously, it said.
“People will find it surprising or weird, but I have access to information they do not have (access to),” the legislator, a former Navy, said.
The editorial said, “Some media practitioners wasted precious time, energy, and money interviewing him. … They got no information of value from the showy and mediocre senator.”
Trillanes stood by his statement in spite of the criticisms.
He said he was expecting Panay News to be “more professional in writing their editorial.”
“I stand by my statement, and I have my whole professional background as basis for my reputation,” he stressed.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gregorio Catapang Jr. earlier denied that there is an impending coup against the Aquino administration.
There is no reason for the coup because the administration has been supportive of the Armed Forces, Catapang.
Brigadier General Arnold Quiapo, commander of the Philippine Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade, had laughed off the information.
“We are loyal to the duly constituted authority, the President, who is our commander-in-chief. Our loyalty is 100 percent,” Quiapo had said.
Also, Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, also assured that soldiers based in Negros Occidental are not planning any coup.
Destabilizing the government is a violation of human rights and the rule of law, Aying said. “We follow the chain of command. We cannot allow any destabilization. There is no brewing coup d’état.”/PN
