President Marcos blasts ‘blatant attempts at destabilization’

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday cited the need to stand up to what he described as “blatant attempts of destabilization” and efforts to remain in a “disappearing past” as rumors of a supposed plot to oust his administration persist.

During the graduation of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Bagong Sinag” class of 2024, Marcos said his “Bagong Pilipinas” governance campaign is about actively building a great nation one day at a time, but acknowledged that the goal involves “birth pains.”

“Bagong Pilipinas is now being slowly born. This a time of birth pains – sadly, of opportunism, blatant attempts of destabilization, and last-ditch to cling to the rapidly disappearing past,” he said.

“But we must be resolute. We must hold on.  We cannot turn back,” he added.

The President made the remark in the presence of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, who, along with her father former president Rodrigo Duterte, is being linked to an alleged destabilization plot involving some police personnel.

Citing unnamed sources, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV had said that some retired and active police officers are recruiting personnel to join a destabilization plot against Marcos.

Trillanes, who led rebellions against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, added that those who are involved in the plot want Sara to become chief executive if Marcos is ousted through impeachment.

The elder Duterte would seize the presidency if Marcos is removed through a coup d’etat, according to Trillanes.

Philippine National Police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo has said no destabilization plot has been monitored and that the police force remains non-partisan.

Harry Roque, who served as spokesman for the Duterte administration, has dismissed the alleged anti-Marcos ouster plot as a “hallucination.”

Marcos said that people could see and feel the progress and peace that his administration has worked on for the past two years.

He added that the southern front has been “relatively quiet” and “development has replaced the blast of bombs and cannons, and booms.”

Marcos said that graduates of the PMA class of 2024 are now part of the national effort against parties “whose fossilized ideas have been rejected by a people tired of war.”

“No quarter will be given, but we offer peace, of the principled kind that will uproot the causes of social discontent,” he added.

Citing the need to prepare cadets to address such challenges, the President ordered the defense department and the military to review the PMA curriculum to ensure that they would be equipped with the skills to counter both conventional and asymmetric threats.