There are no efforts to oust President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the troops remain "solid and united" in fulfilling the military organization's mandate to protect the people and secure the nation.
This was the assurance given by AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar on Monday, Jan. 8, amid rumblings that former military men are encouraging those who are in active service to remove the Commander-in-Chief from power and destabilize the government.
"Wala pong ganyan sa AFP (There's no such thing [as destabilization plot] in the AFP). We can assure the public that we are solid and united. We will focus doon po sa ating mission (in our mission). Huwag na lang muna kaming idamay-damay sa mga 'yan dahil it will not be good for our country (Just don't acquaint us with such things because it will not be good for our country)," Aguilar said in a radio interview with dzBB.
For the AFP, Aguilar said the troops are focused on their mission and that is to make a smooth transition from internal security operation -- battling communists, local terrorists and other domestic threat groups -- to territorial defense and dealing with external threats.
"Doon po tayo nakafocus and ang ating mga sundalo naman ay propesyunal. Mayroon tayong chain of command at lahat naman ay naniniwala na mayroon tayong responsibilidad bawat isa na dapat gampanan (That's our focus right now and our soldiers are professional. We have the chain of command and all of us believe that we have a responsibility to perform)," he said.
Talks of an impending movement to overthrow the Marcos administration were floated anew recently. The same rumors circulated in November last year.
On social media, a number of retired military personnel openly discussed the signing of a manifesto expressing their withdrawal of support for Marcos and supporting Vice Pres. Sara Duterte to replace him.
Aguilar said that although some military men still maintain their connection even after their retirement, this does not necessarily mean they can influence those who are in the active service.
"'Yung mga retired naman po is outside the military organization at siyempre may mga relationship 'yan before (The retired ones are already outside the military organization and yes, they have relationship before). But this doesn't matter anymore when it comes to mission accomplishment or with respect to the performance of our task," he said.
"We are confident that the active military personnel are professional and will follow the chain of command. Hindi 'yan basta-basta aalis dahil alam naman nila 'yung magiging problema nila kung saka-sakali silang pumasok sa mga ganyan (They will not leave suddenly because they know the consequence if ever they decide to join such efforts)," he added.
Relatedly, former president Rodrigo Duterte reportedly denied that he was secretly meeting uniformed men to hatch the ouster plot.
Aguilar said the AFP trusts that the Philippine National Police (PNP) will conduct a thorough investigation on the matter.
"Sa amin naman sa Armed Forces of the Philippines, sinisiguro lang natin na 'yung ating mga sundalo ay nakafocus sa kanilang misyon kasi napakahalaga po ng misyon na ginagampanan namin ngayon at hindi dapat madistract 'yan (For us in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we assure everyone that your soldiers are focused on their mission because it is very important and we should not be distracted)," he stressed.