MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte should sack the individuals giving him intelligence reports on the alleged conspiracy to overthrow him, Liberal Party President Sen. Francis Pangilinan said Wednesday.
Duterte repeatedly floated that the Jose Maria Sison-led communist rebels, the Magdalo group and the opposition Liberal Party are conniving with one another to oust him.
The top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines also linked the political opposition to an alleged destabilization plot.
In a statement, Pangilinan lamented that billions are spent on intelligence funds for “fabricated information.”
“Whoever is giving the president false and manufactured intelligence reports must be fired. They should be giving him accurate information that he needs to know rather than dubious information that they think he would like to hear,” he said.
The party president noted that during the Marcos regime, the late dictator had also accused the LP of colluding with the communists to justify the imposition of martial law.
He added that the “incompetent and corrupt” handling of the economy should be remedied instead.
“Instead of finding solutions to the worsening crisis in the price of rice and the economy, ways are being made to divert attention from the real problem of the country,” Pangilinan said.
Over the weekend, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade—deputy chief of staff for operations—warned of a plot called “Red October.”
“They’ll continue their plans until next month. They also have this October or Red October. That’s the celebration of international communism and also the indigenous people,” he said.