MANILA: The Defence department yesterday urged those peddling rumours of destabilisation plots to stop and focus on “positive things” happening in the country.
Defence department spokesman Peter Galvez said talk about supposed coup plots could harm the economy and do not help in promoting development.
“Whoever is spreading such kind of rumours should stop. There are no complaints among the soldiers and we can see what the president is doing,” Galvez told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
“They should not talk like that. Maybe it would be better if we concentrate on the positive things that are happening in our nation,” he added.
Galvez said the Aquino administration was providing soldiers the equipment they needed to perform their mission.
Earlier, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV revealed that some retired generals identified with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were hatching a plot against the Aquino administration.
He claimed that former generals were meeting active military officers to convince them to destabilise the government.
Trillanes’ allies in Magdalo, a group of rebel soldiers who staged a failed uprising against the Arroyo administration, confirmed that some retired generals were planning to destabilise the government but until now no names have been revealed.
Galvez accompanied Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in his visit to Camp Aquino in Tarlac yesterday, a trip that was supposed to assess the soldiers’ readiness to respond to disasters.
There was speculation that the visit was part of a ‘loyalty check’, but Galvez claimed it had nothing to do with the alleged coup plots.
“We just reminded our troops to prepare, especially now that we have entered the typhoon season,” Galvez said in Filipino.
“We are checking their readiness and determining the equipment they need. Hopefully we can try to get all the equipment so they can strengthen their disaster relief operations,” he added.
Gazmin said he has not detected any plan to destabilise the government.
“I have been going around even before the (reports about) coup came out. I am checking the readiness of AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) as first responders during disasters and calamities,” the defence chief said.
A source who requested anonymity confirmed that two groups of retired generals had met to discuss important issues.
“But they did not talk about coup. It was more of people expressing their views on DAP (disbursement acceleration program) and PDAF (priority development assistance fund),” the source said.
The source said the generals were associated with previous administrations. “They just talked and there is nothing wrong with that,” the source added.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
