Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana assured that government forces will protect President Rodrigo Duterte amid the call of the Communist Party of the Philippines for its cadres to work towards the downfall of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“Our countrymen can rest assured that your defenders will do our utmost to protect everyone, especially the duly elected President of our country from the likes of the terrorist CPP-NPA ( Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army),” Lorenzana said in a statement issued Wednesday.

“We will guard the institutions which are sacred to our democratic way of life and not let any group destroy the ideals which our nation’s forefathers fought and died for,” he added.

Lorenzana said the recent statement of the communist group shows their lies and desperation

“This latest statement of the CPP-NPA once again shows how far these communist-terrorists are from the truth and how years of propagating lies have deluded their sense of reality,” he said.

“This also manifests the CPP’s desperation since the movement is now crumbling from within. They have already lost their mass-based support and their members are returning to the fold of law as their motives and criminal acts have already been exposed to their former cadres and the entire Filipino nation,” he added.

Lorenzana said “through its official publication, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has called on its cadres to work towards the downfall of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and build an alliance with anti-Duterte groups.”

“The CPP’s call for an unholy alliance of all groups opposed to the government just to bring down the President, “even those with the biggest contradiction with the revolutionary forces,” brings to light their bankrupt ideology,” he said.

Emphasizing the recent survey, Lorenzana expressed confidence that “President Duterte is far from being “increasingly isolated” from the Filipino people.”

“Since according to the latest survey, he(Duterte) has a very high 82 percent approval and trust rating,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS