MANILA — "Drama lang iyan."

This is how Senator Antonio Trillanes IV interprets President Rodrigo Duterte's recent pronouncements defending Vice-President Leni Robredo from individuals who want to remove her from office.

Trillanes said Duterte is taking on the role of a "good cop" to distract the public from thinking he has something to do with impeachment plans against Robredo.

"Mag-ingat kayo maniwala diyan kay President Duterte kasi doble kara iyan," he said in an interview on DZMM on Saturday. "Drama lang iyan. Huwag kayo papalinlang diyan kasi nababasa namin iyan."

(Be careful believing President Duterte. He is two-faced. This is all staged. You shouldn't be fooled, because we can see through him.)

Earlier this week, Duterte came to Robredo's defense and rejected ouster plots against her.

"We just had an election. Guys, lay off. Stop it. Do other things but don't tinker with structure of government," Duterte said.

Trillanes also took a swipe at House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who first floated the idea of removing Robredo from office.

"[Iyan si] Speaker Alvarez sunud-sunuran iyan kay President Duterte . . . Kaya hindi sila sumusuway kasi alam nila na panghugas kamay lang iyan ni President Duterte," he added.

(Speaker Alvarez is a loyal follower of President Duterte. He will not disobey the president because he knows that this is just a ploy to deflect blame off of him.)