MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Oscar Albayalde suspect that some members of the police force are involved in a destabilization plot against the Duterte administration.

Aguirre and Albayalde met yesterday and discussed the recent killings of teenagers.

They wondered why the policemen allegedly killed 17-year-old Kian delos Santos even when there were closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the area, as if wanting to broadcast the killing.

“It seemed that it was calculated and that they wanted the policemen to be blamed. When the policemen are blamed, it would reflect on the President,” Aguirre said.

When asked if he believes that some policemen are in connivance with the destabilization plot, the justice secretary said, “That is very possible. I believe that is what the President said… This could be by the police who are in cahoots with destabilizers and some people in the religious and human rights group.”

He believes that the matter is already being looked into by the PNP-Internal Affairs Service.

Following reports of a destabilization plot against the administration as revealed by President Duterte, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is monitoring the “security landscape” to deter any groups that might try to disrupt the government.

While AFP spokesman Major Gen. Restituto Padilla refuses to confirm the alliance between the Liberal Party (LP) and communist groups, he said the AFP is focused on the movements of some armed groups perceived to be not allies of the government.

With regard to the shifting of alliances between political groups and communist rebels, Padilla expressed belief that the President has enough information regarding the matter since he is the commander-in-chief.

“The President has access to more information than we do. Because most of our agencies submit to the President information. And we submit to him as well what only comes from our part,” he said.

“So we do continue to monitor the security landscape, and that includes other areas not only in Mindanao but the entirety of the archipelago,” Padilla said.

When pressed further, Padilla confirmed that the military is watching closely the communist rebels in case they step up attacks.

He added that the AFP has intensified monitoring of the communist New People’s Army to deter any unlawful activities of the group following Duterte’s call to stop the peace talks.

The NPA has been involved not just in extortion activities, but in destroying and burning equipment, primarily construction and farm implements that affect the livelihood of farmers and other marginalized sectors.

“So, if that happens, the most affected are the poor, which we do not want to happen. That’s why we take pains to work closely with big companies who are in agriculture; we take pains to work with construction companies to secure them if they have any threats,” he explained.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said on Thursday that opposition groups are “capitalizing” on the misdeeds of policemen to destroy the Duterte administration.

“The misdeeds of police scalawags will be capitalized on by the opposition and anti-Duterte administration to destroy us because PNP is not really the target… the real target is the President,” Dela Rosa said in a speech at the 116th Police Service Anniversary in Camp Florendo, La Union.

“They want to destroy the President through the PNP because they know that we are the organization to closest to the heart of the President because he trusts us in implementing his centerpiece project on drug war,” he added.

He claimed critics magnify simple police abuses or wrongdoing “in order to bring down the Duterte administration.”

He said he has advised his men to do their job properly and weed their own ranks of erring personnel.

“Let’s be vigilant against our erring personnel. Being law enforcers, we face criticisms from various sectors. We endure the risks and danger, not only in the conduct of operations, but also in rescuing and recovering victims of disasters,” he said. – With Christina Mendez, Jun Elias