Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 5) — Former Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio on Sunday denied that his group TNTrio and the September Twenty-One Reform Movement are floating destabilization rumors.
Rio, a retired military officer, said no one from the two groups have talked to Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. about efforts to overthrow the Marcos administration.
“Somebody who may be known to him, he was telling, ‘Sir, do not involve active personnel in the AFP in any movement that may destabilize the government.’ But definitely he was describing something na meron siyang kausap. Hindi kami yon (about speaking to someone. It wasn’t us),” Rio said Saturday.
He said his group was merely pushing for electoral reforms in the wake of alleged irregularities surrounding the 2022 national and local elections.
“We’re not after who won or lost. What we’re after is for the irregularities we discovered to be answered and not repeated,” he explained.
Rio said his group has been pursuing legal means to achieve their goal, including filing a petition asking the Supreme Court to direct the Commission on Elections, telecommunications companies and its technology provider to preserve the transmission logs of the 2022 polls.
Brawner on Saturday clarified that there’s no destabilization plot against the government, but he heard rumors of alleged coup efforts among the ranks of retired military officers.
READ: No destabilization plot vs. Marcos among retired troops, AFP clarifies
