No sign of public support for resignation calls vs. PNoy –Palace - GMA News

Malacañang on Friday said it does not see any indication of public support for calls for President Benigno Aquino III's resignation following the tragic January 25 Mamasapano operation that left 44 police commandos dead.

At a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte maintained that Aquino will finish his term.

“The President is no stranger to calls for resignation. In the course of his more more or less five years that he has been in office, we have seen these sporadic calls from different groups,” Valte told reporters.

“They always have not resulted in a situation that would please them, or, at least, it has not resulted favorably for them,” she added.

While she said that resignation calls against the President are “part of the democratic space,” Valte said the positions of some groups urging Aquino to quit his post “are not new.”

“At this juncture, only the people can tell if they will back these groups. But, thus far, there is no indication, at least at this point, that they are supported by the majority,” she said.

Some members of the academe are set to launch a signature campaign to call for Aquino's resignation for allegedly not disclosing the United States' role in a police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Forty-four police commandos were killed during the operation after they engaged in a firefight with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Days after the bloody incident, Aquino delivered a televised speech, in which he admitted being aware of the Mamasapano operation.

In a subsequent speech before PNP-SAF officers, the President also mentioned that he already knew about the operation on the morning of Jan. 25. None of his security officials, however, could say who was updating him.

Another group, calling itself the National Transformation Council, has also called on Aquino to step down. This includes some Catholic Church officials, but Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma have already distanced themselves from the group. —KBK, GMA News

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