President Ferdinand Marcos said his administration remains on ‘solid ground’ when it comes to getting wide support from the public and military but he is cautious of efforts to bring down his administration.
The chief executive made the statement when asked in a press conference in Malacañang last Wednesday if he is concerned over coup threats from the military and the looming anti-corruption rallies next month.
He said he is confident he still has the support of ‘important sectors of society’ since he constantly listens and try to address to their grievances. The said dialogues, he said also allows him to be wary of potential threats to his administration.
‘And you know, it is never – it doesn’t serve any – it is dangerous for someone in my position to be complacent and to say, don’t worry everybody is okay, everybody,’ he said.
‘So, when you ask me how confident I am, all I can say is that in our assessment, we are still very much – the administration is still very much on solid ground in terms of support from the different sectors of society,’ he added.
The President, however, said that the opposition is actively trying to remove him from office for political reasons.
‘They want to oust me. Okay, let’s just see what they’ll do,’ he said in Filipino.
Open to investigation
He said he is ready to face head on the said attempts from the opposition, particularly when it comes to the multi-billion flood control projects.
‘And on this, I’m confident that whatever mud might be slung at the administration, that we will be able to show that these are politically motivated and do not actually have any validation in fact,’ Marcos said.
Any attempt to link him to the controversies, he said, will fail since he knows he did nothing wrong when it comes to flood control projects and other public works.
In fact, he said he open to being investigated by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
The ICI is currently conducting probes on billions worth of substandard, non-existent, and overpriced public works
‘That’s why we have the ICI. They are an independent commission. And that is their job. And their job is to follow the leads that they receive. And if necessary or if it is justified, that they can – they will now recommend to either the Ombudsman or to the DOJ (Department of Justice) that cases be filed,’ Marcos said.
‘So, let them do their work. We do not interfere with what they do.We are not hiding anything.,’ he added.