RUMORS OVER A destabilization plot that would have taken place during the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law on September 21, is real, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner.
In an interview with several members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at Camp Aguinaldo, Brawner admitted that several retired military officers tried to sway him into joining a coup d’etat — by renouncing support to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and allow Vice President Sara Duterte’s assumption.
Brawner however clarified that calls for the military to topple Marcos Jr. during anti-corruption protests in Manila and the People Power Monument in Quezon City last Sept. 21 has been rejected.
During the protests, “there were posters and speeches calling for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be the lead. Some of them were saying that maybe we should withdraw our support for the President,” Brawner told FOCAP members.
There were “several calls for us to intervene, and in fact there was some recruitment, so to speak, sad to say some of them retired officers,” he said.
GOVERNMENT RESET
The would-be plotters, he added, were “trying to reach out to the younger officers, trying to reach out to our commanders, reaching out to me even, and convincing us to intervene.”
Brawner said they suggested a “coup d’etat, a military junta, in order to come up with a reset of the entire Philippine society, or withdraw our support – so several forms of military intervention.”
At one point he said he and his military “battle staff” even met with a group of retired military officers led by retired Philippine Air Force chief Major General Romeo Poquiz, a vocal Marcos critic, who aired their grievances – mainly alleged corruption in the incumbent government.
Brawner said some of those pushing for military intervention insisted that “somebody else deserves to be president, but they did not mention who that is.”
Brawner said he told the Poquiz group the military institution was “solid” in support of the Constitution. “We were very clear in our mandate,” he further said. The information was immediately relayed to the President.
CORRUPTION AND WPS
At the center of the discontent are two flashpoints: allegations that hundreds of billions were lost to fictitious flood-control projects and proposed pension changes that former officers say would leave them worse off than their civilian counterparts, reads a previous report published by the South China Morning Post.
The controversy has sparked what insiders describe as a quiet but serious push by some military retirees – including those allegedly aligned with former president Duterte – to pressure the armed forces’ top brass into turning against Marcos.
Two senior officers, speaking in anonymity, told “This Week in Asia” Poquiz met Brawner to persuade him – and other active commanders – to abandon Marcos.
The effort, the officials said, was ultimately rejected as the anti-corruption protests turned violent.
“He spoke to General Brawner before the rallies on September 21,” one officer was quoted as saying.