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Is the Philippines nearing ‘destabilisation’ over the apparent Marcos-Duterte clan feud?
- The feud threatens to embroil the military as its top general warns of ‘destabilisation efforts’ against President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr
- But a former aide to ex-president Rodrigo Duterte says there is no such feud between the two powerful political clans
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Tensions among members of the Philippines’ most influential political clans – the Duterte and Marcos-Romualdez families – are mounting and could embroil the military, insiders have said.
The warnings come from former and active military officers, with one saying the country’s former leaders are behind acts to unseat the current administration, while others claim there are also “destabilisation efforts” within the military itself.
Both clans are being civil about their rivalry but the dissatisfaction from the Duterte side is aimed at officials of current Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, not necessarily the man himself, according to insiders.
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On November 11, former navy officer-turned-senator Antonio Trillanes said on Cignal TV that former presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were colluding to stage an uprising, in the same way that Arroyo unseated then-president Joseph Estrada in 2001.
He said plans had reached the “agitation phase”, prompting pro-Duterte online trolls to flood social media with anti-Marcos Jnr posts.
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Trillanes, who had led failed mutinies against Arroyo, told This Week in Asia on Tuesday that in the event of a coup, the alliance between Duterte, his daughter Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio and Macapagal Arroyo would benefit.
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