The Manila Times
(UPDATE) SOME “retired officers” are planning to grab power amid the controversies involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Sunday. Former representative Zaldy Co had linked Marcos to the flood control fund scandal, while Duterte is facing impeachment proceedings for alleged unexplained wealth. The senator said he received information that the unidentified retired officers are recruiting supporters within the Armed Forces of the Philippines for a possible military-backed “people power revolution.” “There is definitely an attempt but this is outside the AFP. Those behind this could only recruit a few, if at all, from inside the AFP,” Lacson said in a radio interview. “My contacts in the Philippine National Police (PNP) say there is no indication this ‘movement’ will snowball. But definitely there is an attempt, mostly by retired officers,” he said in Filipino and English. Lacson served in the uniformed services from 1971 to 2001, in both the AFP and PNP. He served as PNP chief from 1999 to 2001. However, the Senate president pro tempore believes that the planned takeover would not succeed because the AFP is a professional organization. “So long as the AFP is professional, and I would like to believe it is, there is no compelling reason to have a military junta or another People Power revolution,” he said. Last year, Lacson rejected the idea of a military-backed “reset” or junta amid public outrage over corruption issues. Lacson in November 2025 confirmed that some retired military officers had approached him to be part of a “transition council” to change the government, but he declined. In rejecting unconstitutional changes of leadership, he pointed out that under the 1987 Constitution, the succession of leadership ends with the House speaker. Lacson said this was why he filed last year his “Designated Survivor” bill that extends the line of succession to include the most senior Senate and House member. The hit Netflix series “Designated Survivor” followed the story of a low-level US Cabinet official who becomes President of the United States after a catastrophic bombing during the State of the Union address kills everyone ahead of him in the line of succession.
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