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Monday, February 27, 2006
Mongaya: Continuing military crisis
By Anol Mongaya
IF PRESIDENT Arroyo and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga acted swiftly and correctly to ease the tension affecting the Marines at Fort Bonifacio last night, the “misunderstanding” should be resolved by now.
It seems several officers of the Marines, including Col. Ariel Querubin, are sympathizing with relieved Marines commandant Gen. Renato Miranda. Querubin, who was shown in television with civilians protecting him, called on all Marine units and civilian sympathizers to converge in Fort Bonifacio for a protest vigil.
If last night’s developing situation was mishandled at the early stages, I’m afraid this might lead to a full-blown crisis of Edsa 1 proportions.
***
If Gen. Danny Lim wanted to convince General Senga to do an Angie Reyes—lead the AFP in withdrawing support for President Arroyo last Friday morning—his timing was wrong. General Lim should have approached Senga when a critical mass of civilian protesters had already massed up for a day or two and getting positive public response.
Unfortunately, General Lim approached General Senga late last Thursday evening or Friday dawn when the civilian component was still massing up in three different points in Metro Manila. He apparently believed the moment has come for Senga to move against his commander-in-chief.
I think General Lim acted the way he did because General Senga seemed to have positively responded to the issues agitating junior officers and the rank and file. The magazine Newsbreak, for example, wrote about a command meeting last Jan. 19 when an unnamed general frankly reported about issues confronting the military.
According to Newsbreak: “Senga responded by acknowledging that the issues raised were valid and that he was in fact guilty of some of them. It’s probably no surprise then that two days after that conference, text messages circulated that he had quit. While he has taken pains to declare that he intends to stick it out until he retires in July, Senga has not been spared all the nasty speculation that has afflicted all chiefs of staff since Edsa 1: will he move against his commander-in-chief when the moment comes?”
Last Thursday, General Senga moved against the military rebels and defended the chain of command. But was it the right moment?
***
With the nation’s attention focused on the Leyte tragedy, President Arroyo’s declaration of a state of emergency last Friday rudely brought us back to earthshaking events of a different kind in Metro Manila.
According to former president Fidel V. Ramos, the “emergency” reaction was overkill in response to rallies celebrating Edsa 1. After all, no actual coup erupted.
Still, there was reportedly tension between different AFP units last Friday dawn with pro-GMA units under Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and Major Jovito Palparan separately confronting defiant Scout Rangers under General Lim and the Marines under Colonel Querubin.
(superbalita@sunstar.com.ph or anol.blogs.friendster.com/anols_blog)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 27, 2006 issue)
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