MALACAÑANG on Thursday remained unfazed by the alleged plot of the Liberal Party (LP) to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
Speaking to reporters, Communications Assistant Secretary for Operations and Special Concerns Marie Banaag said the President is not taking the plan to impeach him seriously because he is “very secure.”
“The President is very secure. He knows that he is working well. It is not all about extra-judicial killing. Governing the Philippines is not all about that. It’s all about the lot of things concerning the Filipino people and alleviating their plight,” Banaag said.
Banaag made the statement following Duterte’s revelation that the LP “wanted him out” because they cannot accept defeat in the May 9 national elections.
Duterte on Wednesday was alluding that the opposition party is planning to oust him in favor of its stalwart, Vice President Leni Robredo.
“Those who belong to yellow [party] are demonstrating. You want me out because you can’t accept defeat. This is all politics because they wanted me out, of course, [in favor of] their Vice President,” the President said.
Banaag said Duterte made the apparent tirade against the opposition party after Filipino-American community leader Loida Nicolas-Lewis, who had been tagged as the one plotting to oust the President, now joined the call for his resignation.
“If you can recall, the President raised about Ms. Lewis [last] July or August. And nobody was talking about it. Nobody believed it. And now, Ms. Lewis is going out in the open and saying, let’s oust President Duterte,” Banaag said.
“And perhaps, in his mind, and from other sources, he may know that there’s something going up there – a plot against him, a plot to oust him. He knows. The President had been in politics for many years so he knows that whenever he says something about ousting or plotting against him,” she added.
Despite the alleged ouster plot, Banaag was confident that there was no need to conduct a loyalty check among the government forces since he has a massive support from the Filipino people.
“Like I said, the President is very secure. He knows that he’s working. He knows that he has the support of the military and most majority of the Filipino people,” Banaag said. (Sunnex)