No coup vs. Duterte admin, AFP vows

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday ensured that there will be no coup d'etat against the Duterte administration, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte spoke about it.

"There is no reason at all for your security sector to be remiss of our duty to serve the Filipinos," AFP public affairs office chief Colonel Noel Detoyato told GMA News Online.

Detoyato underscored the professionalism of the military, adding soldiers are more focused on mission accomplishment.

"We are all guided by our transformation road map and our soldiers have so much to look forward to in our modernization program that is 100 percent supported by the government," he said.

"Besides, we are better compensated than before and we have to give back by serving the Filipinos with all our heart."

The salaries of soldiers, as well as the policemen, were increased last year after Duterte signed a joint resolution increasing the base pay of military, police and all uniformed personnel.

The resolution provides an increase in the base pay of candidate soldiers up to the rank of chief master sergeant in the military and their equivalent ranks in the other agencies.

Detoyato's remark came after Duterte, in a speech during the second anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, asked security forces not to stage a coup against the government under his term.

In a separate statement, AFP spokesman Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said what Duterte said was just a "random remark."

"As early as the first Joint AFP-PNP Command Conference that he presided upon his assumption of office and in several other instances after that, he has conveyed that same message to the security forces," Arevalo said.

Arevalo echoed Detoyato's statement that the military is comprised of "professional and matured servicemen and women and are patriots and loyal to the Constitution and the duly constituted authorities."

"We in the AFP shall constantly and will remain loyal to the flag, to the Constitution and to the Filipino people whom we swore to protect with our lives," he said.

Duterte made the statement as he addressed the issue of corruption, which he said would one day spur the soldiers and police officers to launch a coup.

The President said he is willing to listen to the military's grievances over a cup of coffee and step down if that is what they want.

"I told you before, all you have to do kung ayaw ninyo ako, do not bring your weapons and mechanized armors there. Just call me and we'll have coffee and I am ready to say, 'It’s yours for the taking,'" Duterte said. —KBK, GMA News