Cebu police douse talk of coup d’etat

POLICE in Cebu Province have expressed their support for presumptive president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, director of the Cebu Police Provincial Office, said they would follow whatever orders their new commander-in-chief, who is the president, would give them, especially in the promotion of peace and order, as he had been given the mandate by the majority of Filipinos.Soriano expressed hope that the programs that had already been started, such as the campaign against illegal drugs, would be continued.He ruled out the possibility of a coup d’etat to overthrow the Marcos government, saying they always follow their superior, who is the president.“After every election, you observe, there is always that kind of talk. (But) we will always align with our leadership,” Soriano said Friday, May 13, 2022.Also on Friday, Police Brigadier Gen. Roque Eduardo Vega, chief of Police Regional Office 7, ordered his personnel to enforce maximum tolerance when cause-oriented groups hold activities with supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo, while at the same time calling on the public to respect the will of the majority.Robredo is trailing in the presidential race with 14,822,051 votes against Marcos’s 31,104,175 votes from 98.35 percent of election returns Friday.Vega said while they respect the right of the people to express their opinions, especially their doubts about the election results, it would be best for the aggrieved to course their protests through the Commission on Elections. (AYB, CTL)