On November 3, 2023, General Romeo Brawner, chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), while at Camp Don Basilio Navarro in the City of Zamboanga, said that there was a destabilization plot against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He also said that some of those involved are former AFP officers. The next day, however, the AFP clarified that there is no destabilization plot. General Brawner himself reminded “active troops to follow their oath to protect the people and uphold the Constitution.”
Social media carried this alarming news, and a lot of speculations were shared. In fact, bloggers and mainstream media openly discussed the issue. Why did the AFP chief make such a pronouncement and denied it the next day?
Watchers of the national scene were wondering how the AFP, the government institution mandated to promote and ensure the country’s national security and stability, has sent mixed signals to the general population. Questions were raised: “What’s the basis for the alleged destabilization plot? Why the suspicion on some former AFP officers? Aren’t armed personnel, active or retired, trustworthy enough in following the Constitution, as they have been trained and educated formally for years?”
The truth is -- couldn’t the AFP chief, no less, and his generals and other officers see that for the past more than six years the country has been facing a destabilized nation? Economic recovery has yet to be enjoyed by the poor laborers, farmers, fisher folks, small vendors and unemployed, numbering almost half of the more than 112 million Filipinos. Day after day Filipino families have to cope with the spiraling prices of rice, vegetables, chicken, pork, beef and many other household items. The families of the more than 30,000 victims of EJKs and red-tagging, not to mention the long-detained former Sen. Leila de Lima, under the present administration as well as that of VP Sara Duterte’s father, have been waiting for justice far too long.
When will our country find itself stable economically, politically and socially, where social justice reigns, enabling the majority of Filipinos to really enjoy decent lives, and not suffer a destabilized society?
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