PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte strongly believes that the “yellows,” led by former President Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party, are behind a plot to oust him from the presidency, but Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Sunday said the plot was mere speculation.
He also said the belief that self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato is part of the move to discredit and impeach the President was also speculation.
“There are many speculations. Perhaps the media can tell us your evidence that this [yellow] group is responsible for the chaos happening in the country now,” Andanar told dzRB radio.
Senator Leila de Lima, head of the Senate’s justice committee, presented Matobato as a witness in last week’s hearings in which Matobato described the alleged summary executions in Davao City when Duterte was its mayor.
Matobato told the Senate panel he was one of the hitmen of the Davao Death Squad that was established by Duterte, and their only job was to kill suspected criminals and the personal enemies of the Duterte family.
He said it was Duterte who ordered the killings of thousands of people, and that some of those killings were ordered by presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paulo Duterte.
“We have no information on who’s really behind all of these things. These are all speculation,” Andanar said.
Senator Alan Cayetano, Duterte’s defeated running mate, claims Matobato is being used by the LP to remove Duterte so that Vice President Leni Robredo, who belongs to that party, can take over.
Last week, Duterte virtually blamed Aquino and his allies for their alleged effort to destroy his reputation in the international community following his attacks on US President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Duterte has repeatedly lambasted the US and the UN for what he calls interference in his policies, particularly their criticism of the summary killings arising from his administration’s war on drugs.