By Ben Rosario Former president and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday said President Rodrigo Duterte should be believed in regard to the reported plot to oust him through the “Red October” plot.  Former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
(MB PHOTO/FEDERICO CRUZ / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) This developed as Bayan spokesman Teddy Casino chided the Duterte administration for allegedly concocting lies in its bid to “attack the people’s legal democratic movement into silence and submission” as the chief executive’s popularity has started to plummet. Casino said the Armed Forces of the Philippines are hard to put in backing with proof their claim of the reported “Red October”plot allegedly hatched by the CPP-NPA and groups aligned with the movement Against Tyranny, Coalition for Justice, Liberal Party, Tindig Pilipinas, and Magdalo. “What they cite are so-called “intelligence reports” and “captured documents” that no one has seen,” a statement issued by Bayan said. However, Arroyo cited her experience as chief executive as she supported Duterte’s claim. "You know, let me just say again, going from my experience as President, the president usually has access to information that not all of us have access to” she pointed out. “So if the president believes that there is a threat, he is working from good information,” Arroyo said. She added: “So we should believe whatever (he says).” Casino, a former congressman, said what has happened recently was “a convergence” of groups that “uphold democracy and justice in the face of Duterte’s tyrannical rule.” The Bayan spokesman stressed that the September 21 United People’s Action rally’s theme was “Labanan ang Diktadura, Noon at Ngayon!” “Duterte and his generals are using the age-old trick of red-tagging to vilify their critics, sow intrigue and division among the broad democratic opposition, and condition the public mind into accepting violent and politically repressive measures like a crackdown on democratic and progressive movements or outright military rule,” the Bayan statement said. The statement added: “The “inter-agency body to defeat the communist insurgency” being pushed by the AFP is a dangerous ploy to dovetail all government functions and agencies to a militarist campaign to quell armed dissent and in the process undermine or do away with civilian supremacy.”