Palace confident oust-PNoy plot won't get AFP support

Published March 6, 2012 12:33pm

Following Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV's confirmation of a supposed coup plot against President Benigno Aquino III, a Malacañang official stressed that any ouster plot will not get support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In a radio interview Tuesday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte likewise said that there is no need to "double" security for Aquino as the Presidential Security Group's level of security has always been high.

"We are confident the AFP remains a professional organization and will always follow the chain of command," Valte said in an interview on dzBB radio.

Bolstering the AFP's professionalization are the "reforms" by Aquino, including new equipment for the ground forces and housing for the soldiers, she added.

As for the PSG, she said they have always maintained a high level of security.

"Laging mataas ang antas ng security ni Pangulong Aquino. Aware ang PSG of the need for the highest security for the president," she said.

On Monday, Trillanes disclosed an alleged destabilization effort supposedly involving retired military officers trying to recruit men from the AFP.

Trillanes was quoted as saying soldiers are given debriefing kits which tend to show the President as a communist.

But the Armed Forces said it did not receive such information, adding that the chain of command “remains strong.”

“I can assure you that your Armed Forces of the Philippines remains a professional organization and united and solid behind the leadership of our President and commander-in-chief,” AFP spokesperson Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo on Monday.

Any plot to oust President Aquino does not exist, Burgos noted.

Aquino himself divulged a supposed ouster plot against him at the anniversary celebration of the Presidential Security Group last week. — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: noynoyaquino, armedforcesofthephilippines