The coming month brings trouble, according to military officials.
Despite the fact that “Red October” has been outed, it remains in motion, they say. A broad coalition of anti-administration forces is hatching a plan to remove President Rodrigo Duterte from office.
Armed Forces Assistant Deputy Chief for Operations Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade said two communist leaders, Rey Casambre and Satur Ocampo, are leading destabilization efforts against President Duterte.
Also in on the scheme are the critics of the President, specifically supporters of the ousted chief justice, Maria Lourdes Sereno, and members of a group called Tindig Pilipinas.
The military also said the plan includes egging labor groups to go on strike, an attempt at creating a dent on industry.
Earlier this month, the President himself talked about a plot to get him out of office. He pointed to his usual vociferous critics as the culprits.
It would be unfortunate if such plans were indeed in motion. These would disrupt not only the term of Mr. Duterte but more importantly our attempts to rise above our current difficulties—think high prices, gaping income inequality, rampant corruption, sluggish infrastructure —and achieve a modicum of progress.
If there were indeed a coalition of unlikely partners—communists and middle-class individuals who themselves have stakes in businesses-—then we cringe to think of the chaos that would ensue once they have toppled the presidency and started figuring out who should do what in its aftermath.
Talk of destabilization in itself unsettling, not for the individual at the helm of government but for the people who know all too well the lessons in ousting somebody —and then stopping right there.
It also portrays a negative image of volatility at a time when we are desperate to attract tourists and foreign investors.
At worst, talk of Red October or any other scheme conditions the people’s minds that danger is imminent and that government forces are ready to resort to harsh measures to contain it.
At best, it takes the mind of our officials off the real work they must do: Improve the lot of Filipinos instead of obsessing about whether they will still be in power next month, or next year.
