‘Red October’ not a threat
MANILA — As far as the Philippine National Police is concerned, a supposed ouster plot that the military calls ‘Red October’ is not a threat at the moment.
“We don’t see it as a threat as of this time but it can be a concern. For some, it can be a concern, but we do not treat it as a threat as far as the PNP is concerned. I don’t know with other agencies,” Director General Oscar Albayalde, PNP chief, said in a press briefing Monday.
He, however, said that the alleged ‘Red October’ plot has basis.
“I think there’s a basis for the statement of the president. Remember the president has unlimited access to information, not just the PNP,” Albayalde said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in a televised dialogue with his lawyer Salvador Panelo on September 11, claimed that a sympathetic foreign government had recorded conversations that would show a conspiracy between communist rebels, the promilitary Magdalo group and the Liberal Party against him.
Jose Ma. Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman and political consultant of the National Democratic Front, denied the supposed conspiracy and dared Duterte to release the supposed recordings. The president has not done so.
The military has since floated a "Red October" plot supposedly led by communist rebels. "Red October" is an obvious reference to the 1917 Russian Revolution.
The PNP chief, who maintained there is no recruitment among the cops to join the perceived plot to oust Duterte, denied police officers linked to a farm in Rizal are part of the "Red October" plot.
Albayalde said last week that the Rizal provincial police must explain the circumstances behind the raid on a supposed NPA "farm base" and verify businesswoman Lily Ong’s allegation that she has been giving police officers P8,000 a month for protection. The woman alleged there were people who tried to kidnap her.