Duterte tells soldiers: Next time you stage mutiny, don't surrender power to politicians
President Rodrigo Duterte has advised the military not to surrender the government to politicians if it would stage a mutiny again.
Duterte, in a speech in Malacanang on Wednesday, said if the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police would oust him, he would immediately hand over the power to them.
"But I'm telling you, military, listen, you have maybe staged so many coup d' etats, mutiny and everything. The problem with you, every time there's a successful revolution, you returned the power to the people. Power emanates from the people, remember, not to the few," he said.
But he said, the soldiers in the past, gave the power to the politicians.
"And you all know who were behind - the players of this country and the rich people who were able to maintain their alliances with government to milk more money," he said.
"That's why next time, if you want a revolutionary government...sleep on it, think about it, and don't just surrender after, salute to whoever. It's your fault. You have had your chance to really change the country, but you did not," Duterte added.
In 1986, through the bloodless Edsa People Power Revolution, the late Corazon Aquino was catapulted to power, ousting the two-decade rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
In 2001, while it was not as huge as the Edsa People Power in 1986, then President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada was removed from office following the corruption allegations. Then Vice President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded Estrada.
The two ouster plots became successful as the military and the police supported them. Celerina Monte/DMS
