Minor agitations are responsible for the rumblings that are the basis of rumors of a supposed destabilization plot against the Marcos administration.

“That’s a function really of information operations. There will be all these agitations; we have to learn to live with it and we have to learn to ignore it,” Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said yesterday.

According to Teodoro, it is unfair to the majority of retired military officials to be tagged alongside the minority allegedly inciting destabilization.

“How many are there? Actually, there are very few. They do not speak for the retired officials. That’s why even naming them as speaking for retired officials is unfair to the retired officials,” Teodoro said.

However, if former military officials violate the law, Teodoro said they should be held accountable for their actions. Furthermore, he urged that the few not be glorified, as it only distracts the Department of National Defense from its tasks.

Not the majority

“This is not the vast majority of the retired officials. So let’s also not glorify these people but put them in a place where the public shouldn’t regard them,” Teodoro said.

“I really don’t like to talk about these things because there’s nothing happening here and it distracts from our work,” he added.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the intelligence community is tasked with checking whether there are any active members involved in a supposed destabilization plot.

“As of now, the intelligence community has not yet reported to me, but they are already doing their investigation, especially on active members of AFP,” Brawner said in Filipino and English.

The Palace recently said that the intel community was verifying the claim of alleged destabilization, following columnist Ramon Tulfo’s social media post that listed personalities, including former military officials, allegedly plotting the destabilization of the administration.

“We want to make sure that there is no active member of the Armed Forces who will be involved in any of these non-constitutional activities,” Brawner said.