Oust me if I lied: Duterte

PRESIDENT Duterte yesterday encouraged the military to oust him if it can prove that he lied about his alleged bank accounts and wealth.

“Sabi ko nga, ‘Please oust me if I tell a lie to you’,” the President said during the Philippine Army’s Change of Command ceremony.

He reiterated that he is willing to resign if anyone could show him that he has more than P40 million in his bank account.

He said all he has is his life savings and the proceeds of his inheritance.

Duterte reiterated his pronouncements during the opening ceremony of the Agrilink/Foodlink/Aqualink 2017 festival held at the World Trade Center.

The President said he has challenged two other officials to resign with him and open their bank accounts on public. He was  referring to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Duterte reiterated that he has already issued a bank waiver in the past acknowledging the continued call of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for him to issue a bank waiver.

He reiterated that he does not have billions in his account, and that the alleged bank documents being used to investigate him are fabricated and falsified and came from an alleged mistress of Trillanes.

The Armed Forces said it has not received any report of destabilization plans by the political opposition against the Duterte administration.

AFP public affairs chief Col. Edgard Arevalo made the statement days after the launching of the Citizen National Guard whose objective is to protect the government from “enemies of the state,” including the political opposition.

The CNG is said to be composed of retired members of the Armed Forces, Muslims, and other professionals supporting Duterte.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, who graced the launching, said he has formed his own group of lawyers to thwart moves by the opposition to oust the President. He declined to name the group that will be launched soon.

“We will be conferring with other government agencies. But in so far as the AFP is concerned, we have not monitored any such destabilization plans,” said Arevalo.

Nevertheless, Arevalo vowed that the military would not allow any effort to undermine the government.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he plans to ask Aguirre about the alleged destabilization plan.

Lorenzana said he was planning to ask Aguirre about it during last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting but they were so busy with other matters.

Lorenzana said he and AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año learned of the creation of the CNG plot through the media.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Duterte’s claim of destabilization by the Liberal Party and the Communist Party of the Philippines has not been substantiated by the defense and the military leaderships.

Lacson, a former police chief and intelligence officer, said he could not even monitor from his own sources that there are movements to oust Duterte.

He said during the budget hearing of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV asked the leadership of the two agencies if there is any move to destabilize the Duterte administration.