Esperon laughs off talk about a coup d'etat against the Duterte administration

From InterAksyon (May 25): Esperon laughs off talk about a coup d'etat against the Duterte administration



Retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

 Retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., in-coming national security adviser, debunked on Wednesday (May 25) a coup rumor being floated earlier by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV against the administration of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte because of the latter’s willingness to work with communist leaders in the government.

"Let’s see if there is one or he [Trillanes] is just talking through air," Esperon, a former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said. "If ever there is, we will show them that staging coups is not a solution to problems."

He said staging a coup d'etat would be just a "waste of time," noting how past attempts at a coup d'etat had never succeeded because of "lack of capability" of the plotters.

"I think the Armed Forces has a learned a lot from past experiences," Esperon said. "They must be dreaming."

Esperon was among military figures during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

From being chief of Philipine Army, Esperon was later appointed to the AFP top post after reportedly backing out from a coup being staged in February 2006 against the Arroyo administration by then Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Esperon was also among four generals implicated in the "Hello Garci" scandal. But they were cleared of any involvement in the controversial 2004 presidential election won by Arroyo against her closest rival, the late action king Fernando Poe Jr.

In the 2016 presidential election, Esperon was just among many former generals who banded together to support the candidacy of Duterte.

Duterte had said he would be appointing a good number of former generals into key government positions, such as at the corruption-laden Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Land Transportation Office (LTO), and the Department of National Defense (DND).

http://interaksyon.com/article/128232/esperon-laughs-off-talk-about-a-coup-detat-against-the-duterte-administration