FORMER national security adviser and defense secretary Norberto Gonzales is a sociopath who is out to oust President Benigno Aquino III over the controversial January 25 operation that resulted in the death of 44 police commandos, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Monday.
“Ang papel ni Norberto Gonzales manggulo sa Pilipinas [The role of Norberto Gonzales is to sow chaos in the Philippines],” Trillanes told Senate reporters at the sidelines of the ongoing investigation into the Mamasapano incident.
“That guy is a sociopath,” said Trillanes, who himself led two incidents where he urged the military to withdraw support from then President Gloria Arroyo. “If he has something in mind, then he will pursue that.”
But Gonzales, Trillanes said, has absolutely no influence in the military and was only trying to act “as if he has one.”
“We checked everything about him, [but] he is alone,” Trillanes said, adding that while Gonzales cannot raise a military force sufficient to oust the Aquino administration, the fact that he is instigating servicemen against the government could cause problems.
“My exact term was there are people planning to oust the President. It’s not really the conventional coup, but they’re hoping to recruit members, active members of the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and the [Philippine National Police],” he said.
“Just by merely getting disgruntled soldiers who have valid grievances, this can become a very bad situation for this administration. That’s what we are hoping that they will not achieve,” Trillanes said.
“The deterrent is for us to expose them,” the senator said, “that we know who they are, and who they are recruiting so that the Armed Forces will be alarmed. If it comes out in the media, they will lie low.”
But Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, a leader of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance, said the senator, an ex-Navy officer who spent six years in jail for the Oakwood Mutiny and the Peninsula siege, was only trying to create a diversion to cover up the Mamasapano incident.
“Here comes Trillanes again, insisting on linking the opposition to his imaginings. I dare to name those he meant as coup plotters. I would not be surprised if he would link the Vice President out of his obsession to malign the Binays,” Tiangco said.
The Navotas lawmaker said that Trillanes’ latest move shows his true color and character – someone “feigning concern with the welfare of policemen and soldiers, but who, because of his personal ambition, would be the first to block the desire for justice of the families of the SAF 44,” Tiangco said.
“Once again, former coup plotter-turned-senator Antonio Trillanes IV is spreading coup rumors with the intent of covering up the issue surrounding the Mamasapano Massacre,” Tiangco said in a statement.
Tiangco said it was clear that the administration and its allies want to distract public attention away from its negligence in coming to the aid of the police commandos who died in the mission that was approved by President Benigno Aquino III himself.
Tiangco said administration allies are now trying to cover the “negligence on the part of the commander-in-chief” who allowed a suspended police official to lead the operation.
“If indeed there are coup rumors, then Trillanes should be the first suspect, as he has the history of aspiring to grab power in ways that violate the Constitution,” Tiangco said.
The military also distanced itself from Trillanes’ claims and denied that there was any coup plot.
“We have not monitored any (coup plot). If there are officials who are trying to persuade us in joining coup attempt, we will not follow them. We have no valid reasons to remove our loyalty from the commander-in-chief,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc.
“We have remained loyal to the Constitution and we will remain focused on our mandated tasks,” Cabunoc said, adding that previous coup attempts ruined the careers of fine officers and enlisted men.
“We have a lot of examples of soldiers whose careers were destroyed by people who lured them in joining coup attempts, especially, I’m referring to the enlisted personnel, some of them are discharged from the service and some of them were demoted to the lowest ranks and their families were affected by these incidents,” he said.
Meanwhile, the military\s Western Mindanao Command reiterated on Monday that it remains committed to support duly constituted authorities amidst all allegations and controversies surrounding the circumstances of the Mamasapano incident.