MANILA – The Philippines is bracing for more street protests in the weeks ahead, with a political shakeup in the Senate over a corruption scandal and admission by the country’s military chief that he has rebuffed calls for the military to bring down the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Military chief General Romeo Brawner told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) on October 3 that retired military officials have recently tried to convince him to support an uprising and withdraw support for the popularly elected president, but that these calls have been rejected.
The calls came as Marcos’ government weathered a huge anti-corruption rally on September 21, triggered by allegations of rigged infrastructure projects allegedly involving some senators and congressmen, including Marcos’ cousin, who has since been removed as speaker of the House. The president did not try to stop the street protests, but the police have been criticized for rounding up dozens of demonstrators.
Brawner said his “battle staff” of senior commanders met with one group led by former general Romeo Poquiz, who has been leading criticism against Marcos, and allowed him to air his grievances, including alleged corruption in the government. While Poquiz’s group did not directly refer to a coup during their meeting, he was later reported to have said in public reports that he wanted Marcos’ downfall.
“Definitely, there are calls for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to intervene,” Brawner said. “Some of them were saying that we should withdraw our support for the president.”
“However, on the side of the AFP, we are very clear in our mandate. That is why I was telling members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that that day, September 21, was also a litmus test (for us),” he said.
Some retired military officers had tried to reach out to ground commanders, “convincing us to intervene through several means, through a coup d’état, a military junta in order to come up with a reset for the entire Philippine society or withdrawal of support,” Brawner said.
But all the calls landed on deaf ears, Brawner said, because the modern military has been professionalized. Military adventurism is nothing new in the Philippines, which has survived previous attempts to unseat a sitting president as a means to change power.
Marcos’ dictator father and namesake, Ferdinand E Marcos, himself faced revolt after years of massive corruption. A faction of the defense forces split from him, triggering a “people power” revolt that ousted him from two decades of power.
His successor, Corazon Aquino, survived six coup attempts as she struggled to stabilize the Philippines. In 2001, a military-backed popular revolt forced Joseph Estrada to step down, while his successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, quelled an attempted rebellion by junior officers.
“We believe that a military intervention in any form is not the solution to..the things that we are now experiencing in our country, corruption, for instance, and other malpractices,” Brawner said. A coup, he said, “will set us back” as a country and scare investors away.
“And we know how devastating this [would be] for our country, not only for the armed forces, but for the entire country. So we will not allow that to happen. We believe that we have democratic processes and procedures working today,” he stressed.
On Monday (October 6), Marcos said he would end wasteful spending, vowing that “accountability and efficiency” in using public funds.
“We will not tolerate measurement without action, nor will we tolerate the wastage of public funds,” Marcos said during a forum with economic managers. “Our national budget serves as our moral and economic compass. It must always point toward making life better for our people. Every project, every policy, every program, every peso must move the needle for Filipino families.”
Filipinos have been glued to their television sets in the weeks leading up to September 21. Corrupt public works officials have testified in Congress about the anomalous implementation of billions of dollars’ worth of “ghost” infrastructure projects.
The scandal broke in the middle of the monsoon season here, which had submerged large portions of Manila as well as nearby suburbs despite huge funds spent on flood-control projects.
Amid public uproar, Marcos created an independent body to investigate corruption. On Sunday, he stressed that strong cases would be built against those involved. He said any public dissatisfaction with the results of the probe could lead to dire consequences.
He said individuals and politicians linked to the questionable projects are “not innocent,” and that the government must ensure that cases filed in court are backed by strong evidence.
“We know many of these people are not innocent, but if you’re going to bring them to court, you must have a very strong case,” Marcos said in a statement. “We have to follow the law. Otherwise, whatever we do is not legitimate. And we have to be very, very clear that we go after the guilty ones.”
His calculated statement appeared to aim to head off warnings from various groups of bigger protests in the coming weeks. The warnings have taken on more urgency, with many youth-led groups seen to follow the lead of other countries where Gen-Z rallies have sparked changes, including in Nepal, Indonesia and Madagascar.
A wary Filipino public is not necessarily impressed or swayed by Marcos Jr’s anti-corruption stand. After all, his father is known to have plundered billions of dollars from state coffers – much of which has never been recovered.
The Marcos family was exiled in Hawaii after the late dictator was toppled, but was later allowed to return. Marcos Jr’s resounding election win in 2022 took many by surprise, with many warning of a return to old-style corrupt politics.
Still, Marcos Jr has appeared to have taken the right steps so far. He had cut a political alliance with the family of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who is now being tried in the International Criminal Court for “crimes against humanity” over his drug war that caused thousands of deaths. He has also re-embraced the United States and adopted a stronger stand against China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Protest leaders have said that they are gearing up for a bigger march in November; however, no details have yet been released. “This will be bigger, wider and fiercer than the September 21 rally,” Judy Ann Miranda of the Partido Maggagawa group vowed last week.
Jason Gutierrez was head of Philippine news at BenarNews, an online news service affiliated with Radio Free Asia (RFA), a Washington-based news organization that covered many under-reported countries in the region. A veteran foreign correspondent, he has also worked with The New York Times and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He may not do it. But it will not be the first time in histoty that junior officers ked a coup. Too much problems since Duterte was in power. His daughter is politically very strong. Marcos did all his handlers advised hum but there is nothing he can do. VOX POPULI! VOX POPULI. It alwas prevails in the end.
Marcos is just American puppet, as long as America back Marcos, military which is another America trained puppet, won’t topple him. They all still looking to retire comfortably in America one day. Of course, if Trump burn down America, all bets are off.
Exactly. Philippines is in edge as much as their western handlers.
I thought Brawner sounds like an American name, definitely not of Philippine origin. So I look it up.
“Born and raised from a military family with American roots, …… ”
“Brawner was born in Baguio to Lenora Fe (née Saturnino) and Romeo A. Brawner, Sr., the brother of former Brigadier General Felix A. Brawner Jr. Brawner’s military roots came from his grandfather, Private Lisbon Brawner, an African-American soldier who served from the United States Army, and was part of the Buffalo Soldiers who was deployed to the country and served during the Philippine–American War.”
You can bet his is a very common background within Filippino military establishment. The American imperial control of its ‘former’ and still de-facto colony is really deep.
No surprise.
Not a coincidence that USAID and National Endowment for Democracy, both US agencies, are present in every country that surrounds or does heavy trade with China. And ever so often there are small groups rising up in dissent when their leaders choose to grow closer to China. Happening in Korea right now.