President Duterte is not bothered by recent reports that the military is withdrawing its support over his supposed silence on the issue in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Malacañang said.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after Twitter user Info Ops said there was a Viber group composed of almost 500 members discussing the supposed withdrawal of the military's support for the Commander-in-Chief.
In his press briefing on Monday, Roque said the President is not bothered by the reports that he described as "kwentong kutsero" (hearsay).
"Hindi po nababahala ang Presidente. Tapat po siya sa Saligang Batas at alam po niya na nirerespeto rin ng ating kasundaluhan ang Saligang Batas (The President is not bothered. He is faithful to the Constitution and he knows that our soldiers respect it as well)," he said.
Roque reiterated President Duterte's remark last week that the soldiers can always remove him from Malacañang if he was useless.
"Alam po niya na kung gugustuhin ng militar, kahit sino pwedeng ipatanggal ng militar (He knows that if the military wants him out, the military can remove whoever they want)," he said.
"Kampante po siya na walang dahilan para naman umakto ng ganyan ang ating mga kasundaluhan (He is confident that there is no reason for the military to make such acts)," he added.
Meanwhile, Roque believed that the military is loyal to the country and that they know that everyone should be focused on addressing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and not on politics.
However, he said they can always choose a new leader if they want to, especially with the elections next year.
"Alam po nila hindi po talaga panahon para sa potilika ngayon. Sa isang taon naman po mag-e-eleksyon na, pwede na nating halalin kung sinong gusto nating halalin (They know that it is not the time for politics. Anyway, the election is next year already so we can elect the people we want to elect)," Roque said.
"Kung tingin nila hindi na karapat-dapat ang polisiya ng Presidente, huwag iboto ang magiging kandidato ng Presidente (If they do not agree with the President's policies anymore, they can choose not to vote for his candidate)," he added.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said there was no truth behind the rumors and branded it as a figment of the imagination who wanted the President out of Malacañang.
"I talked to Secretary Delfin Lorenzana this morning and according to him, there is no truth to the claim that the military is withdrawing its support or no longer has confidence in the leadership of President Duterte," he said.
Andanar said the claim was not a reflection of the true sentiment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its personnel, both active and retired.
He added that the reports were a mere rehash of calls to "#OustDuterte" in 2017 and #DuterteResign" this year and were brought back to life because of the upcoming elections in 2022.