Coup attempts? Marcos confident of support from key sectors of society

Amid talks that some retired officers called on the military to withdraw support and considered instigating a coup plot against him, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Wednesday expressed confidence that important sectors of the society were still supportive of his government. 

''So, when you ask me how confident I am, all I can say is that in our assessment, we are still very much – the administration is still very much on solid ground in terms of support from the different sectors of society,'' Marcos said when asked regarding the calls made by some retired officers, as recently disclosed by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner.

''What I can say is that we are confident that the important sectors of society, the power centers of society and of the administration are very supportive still of the advocacies of the administration, the programs of the administration,'' the President added.

Still, Marcos is not complacent as he claims to work very hard ''to continue to earn that support from them.''

''We know that because they voted for you in the last election that nothing will change. Hanggang kamatayan, ‘yan na ‘yan, yan na ‘yun. Hindi naman ganoon ‘yan (Until death, this is it). Politics is a very variable – very volatile exercise,'' Marcos said.

Meanwhile, Marcos pointed out that his administration is open for complaints and grievances from critics of his governance, adding that he intends to listen to everyone. 

''And they – whoever has any kind of grievance or any kind of complaints, and who might be thinking of saying that this is not, we no longer agree with the administration, we always go to them and say, what can we do to accommodate your advocacy or some of the things that they would like – that they would like the national government to do. And so that's what we are doing,'' he explained. 

"The important sectors of society are still very supportive of the admin," the President added.

In a briefing earlier this month, Brawner said some retired officers reached out to him, AFP commanders, and younger officers "to intervene through several means" amid their grievances against the President.

Such possible means of military intervention include a coup d'état, a military junta, or withdrawal of support, Brawner said.

However, the AFP chief said no such activities transpired during September 21 protests against corruption in government amid the scandal over alleged kickbacks from flood control projects. — VDV/RF, GMA Integrated News