By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Apparently ashamed or not wanting to be associated with former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, former Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV has revealed that some military officials and personnel have started to remove fist bump photos on social media.

This developed amid rumors of a destabilization move to oust President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr and hand over the presidency to Vice President Sara Duterte.

“According to my AFP contacts, the active officers and EP are now voluntarily deleting their photos na naka-fist salute ni duterte. Either nahihiya na sila or ayaw na maassociate kay duts at baka madamay pa sa destab calls nya. Buti naman!” Trillanes on Sunday, November 26, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The fist bump pose, initially used by Duterte in his 2016 presidential campaign, became popular as a symbol of his tough stance on illegal drugs and crimes.

In a television interview early this month, Trillanes insinuated that FPRRD seemed to support efforts to destabilize the Marcos Jr. administration.

“Duterte has not experienced a life without being in power. He cannot breathe until he has returned to power. Plus the fact that he is under threat by the International Criminal Court. It’s a matter of survival for him and physical freedom. He has the motive to do all these things,” he said during the “The Chiefs” program on November 11.

But on November 16, in his interview with “Facts First” podcast hosted by Christian Esguerra, the former senator directly charged the feisty former chief executive as the brains behind the destabilization efforts against Marcos Jr. that will benefit his daughter VP Sara Duterte if a coup d’etat succeeds.

Trillanes IV, who was once involved on the July 23, 2003, Oakwood mutiny in Makati City against then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, noted that the destabilization efforts did not ripen to a coup plot because of the absence of a military component due to the perception among some military officers that FPRRD is pro-China.

“And besides kung si Duterte, ang feedback ha ng mga junior officers atsaka mid-ranking officers ay natu-turn off sila dahil pro-China siya. So they won’t join him. Kasi otherwise, alam nila na ang ending nito is basically letting China in again, similar to what he did from 2016 to 2022,” he disclosed.

However, Trillanes IV still cautioned the PBBM administration not to take lightly the reports that only the retired generals were involved in the destabilization efforts.

He recalled that the so-called “Edsa Dos” that ousted then President Joseph”Erap” Estrada and installed VP Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as acting President was due to the instigation of some retired generals like the late President Fidel V. Ramos and former Defense Secretary Renato de Villa.

(ai/mnm)