NUPL says 鈥極ust Duterte鈥� plot is 鈥榩utrid rubbish鈥�
MANILA, Philippines — The supposed “Oust Duterte” plot matrix earlier published in a major broadsheet was “putrid garbage” and “not worth the paper is it written on,” the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said Monday.
In the article from Manila Times, a supposed “highly place source in the Office of the President” said that “there is a plot to discredit the President and destabilize his government.”
The matrix linked the NUPL and its key officers in allegedly distributing false narratives of a certain “Bikoy,” who appeared in a series of videos of a supposed “narcolist” linking the President and his family to the illegal drug trade.
“This allegation is not worth the paper it is written on. It is putrid rubbish. Garbage in — and so must — garbage out,” the NUPL said in a statement.
It slammed the matrix as “absolutely false, totally baseless, and completely ludicrous” and a “bait to engage in absurd and endless tit for tat to distract us.”
The NUPL also said that the matrix is “perilous” to the safety, security, and liberty of the members of the NUPL in more than 20 chapters nationwide.
Article continues after this advertisement“We do not have time for such hogwash accusations which will not even pass muster Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” the group said.
Article continues after this advertisement“Many of us are even clueless about this ‘Bikoy’ video, anectodally preferring to waste our time watching zanier spiels of ‘Bitoy’ instead,” it added.
The NUPL said they are being targeted because they have criticized the extrajudicial killings in the government’s drug war, filed cases before the Supreme Court and other fora questioning martial law, Boracay closure, and other public interest cases, assisted in filing complaints before the International Criminal Court and different bodies of the United Nations, among others.
“We stand by our record and integrity with the kind of passion of lawyering for the people that has put Ben Ramos and many of us in the crosshairs of those who want a monopoly of everything,” the NUPL said.
“So this story passing off as news coming at the heels of other attacks and smear campaign by the government and its proxies is plainly a demolition job,” it added.
Despite what the NUPL called a “demolition job,” it said that they remain “unfazed” and “will not blink nor look the other way.”
“We will not blink nor look the other way. We are unfazed even as we are disturbed. In the ultimate analysis, who really is running scared here?” it said.
“We will just do our job based on our mandate, priorities and capacity. Criticism is not ousting. Lawyering is not destabilizing,” the NUPL added.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo has confirmed the matrix, saying the source came from the President himself. /je
