Duterte to troops on EDSA Day: Coups okay but don't give power to pols

President Rodrigo Duterte said soldiers who will support coup d'état should hand over the reins of government to "bright" military men, policemen or executives, and not give the leadership to politicians.

"Sinabihan ko sila, you look, mag-mutiny kayo supporting a people power, pagkatapos ibibigay ninyo [ang gobyerno] sa kalaban sa politika.  Eh di parang ganun din, pareho lang tulisan," Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and Bisaya during a PDP-Laban sortie in Cebu on Sunday night, the eve of the 33rd year of EDSA People Power celebration.

"Parang paiba-iba lang partido. Sabi ko kasalanan niyo rin yan. Ilang beses ninyo ginawa nyan. Kayong mga pulis makinig kayo. Ilang beses? Mula kay Marcos, Estrada hanggang kay...," he said.

Duterte added, "Tama na mag-coup d'etat mo, pero huwag ninyo ibigay sa politiko [ang gobyerno]. Maghanap kayo ng sampung bright, military man o policeman o mga executives na nagtatrabaho ng maayos, sila ang kunin ninyo."

On a number of occasions, he told the military to just ask him to leave Malacanang if they think he was no longer performing his job as chief executive.

He earlier issued the same call to soldiers planning to topple the government to let young people to run the nation.

Duterte delivered the message on the eve of the 33rd commemoration of the EDSA People Power that toppled the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.

The Marcos family was found to have brought $717 million in cash, $124 million in deposit slips, and 300 crates of assorted jewelry with undetermined value, after the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has so far recovered more than P171 billion worth of the wealth stolen from the country's coffers by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Duterte in August 2017 said the Marcos family expressed willingness to "open everything" and return a portion of the wealth, including several gold bars.

Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in October 2017 said talks as regards the Marcos family's plan to settle with the Philippine government under Duterte continue although they happen only occasionally. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/Virgil Lopez/KG/LDF, GMA News