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Monday, March 06, 2006
Admin goes on damage control
THE coup plot against President Arroyo has been largely beaten, administration officials say, but this week they’re under pressure to prove the threat really existed and the emergency declaration, justified.
Palace lawyers face off against critics of Proclamation 1017 in oral arguments before the Supreme Court tomorrow.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar urged administration advisers to spell out the “vague” charges against five party-list lawmakers, who have decided to stay inside Congress to avoid a warrantless arrest.
Key advisers of President Arroyo warned yesterday that “residual threats” to national security remain and her opponents could still try to destabilize the Arroyo administration.
But Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr., who arrived in Cebu yesterday, could not say whether individuals or organizations in Cebu are being monitored for possible links to the failed coup last Feb. 24, as earlier reported.
“I am not privy to that. It’s Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who handles that investigation,” Cruz told reporters.
The defense chief also allayed fears of media censorship, saying that even before Proclamation 1017, the National Telecommunications Commission has long monitored media outlets to ensure they adhere to broadcast ethics.
If there is any violation in broadcast ethics, his office will lodge a complaint before the Kapisan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, he said.
President Arroyo lifted a week-old state of emergency Friday, after her security advisers assured her that the threat of a coup by a loose coalition of opposition politicians, communist guerrillas and right-wing military adven-turists has waned.
“With the plot effectively beaten back, we can now get back on track,” presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a weekly newspaper column, which appears today.
“The enemies of the state will always test a new threshold of destabilization, but they will never dent the rock steady foundations of our constitutional democracy,” Bunye said.
Residual
“We leave to our law enforcers and the criminal justice system the task of meeting the residual threats posed by the remnants of the failed conspiracy.”
Army Chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said most participants in the failed coup have been identified but those who remained unidentified could regroup and continue to plot against the government.
Critics have accused Arroyo of overblowing the coup threat to justify her declaration of a state of national emergency more than a week ago to ensure her hold on power.
Arroyo’s camp responded by launching a public campaign against the coup plotters.
The government over the weekend released a video documentary, called “Battling Treachery,” which detailed several plots by disgruntled troops, communist guerrillas and opposition politicians to oust her through a coup, assassination, attacks on key government installations and massive protests. The documentary was shown on state-run TV networks.
Military chief of staff Gen. Generoso Senga said in the documentary that the coup plot would set off chaos had it succeeded because those involved would definitely fight over power.
Magdalo
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines will remain vigilant. We will not allow this to happen,” he said.
In the documentary, Senga and Esperon related how the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army and the Magdalo group allegedly plotted to oust the President.
Some of the documentary materials were seized from Lt. Lawrence San Juan, who was captured by military and police operatives last Feb. 22 in Padre Garcia, Batangas after his alleged meeting with members of the New People’s Army.
A member of the Magdalo group, San Juan escaped from his military escorts while he and other Magdalo soldiers were being taken back to camp after attending a hearing on the charges filed against them.
The charges stemmed from the failed Oakwood mutiny against the Arroyo administration in July 2003.
Authorities have filed criminal charges against at least 51 opposition members, military personnel and others for allegedly trying to overthrow the president.
Isolation
Charges of inciting to sedition were filed Friday against publisher Ninez Cacho-Olivares and two columnists of the Daily Tribune, an opposition newspaper that was raided by police on Feb. 25.
Other opposition figures were involved in the plot, according to military spokesman Col. Tristan Kison. He refused to identify them until they are charged in court.
Bunye said among those being investigated are three prominent wealthy people who allegedly provided funds to coup plotters.
While calm has returned, leftist groups have vowed to continue protests and call for Arroyo’s ouster over corruption and vote-rigging allegations.
Left-wing leader Renato Reyes said Arroyo’s crackdown has helped the opposition draw closer together, while alienating supporters such as former President Fidel Ramos, once a key Arroyo ally.
Arroyo “is moving toward more isolation,” Reyes said. “She’s not getting new allies from her latest moves.”
Reserve
In Cebu, Cruz was the guest of honor in the First National Philippine Army ROTC Commanders Convention in Barangay Lahug yesterday afternoon.
He said his two-day stay in Cebu is part of his command tour to explain to every military unit in the country the importance of the government’s Philippine Defense Reform Program, which aims to make the Armed Forces of the Philippines better and more professional.
The defense secretary hailed ROTC commandants for choosing to undergo civil-military training over Republic Act 9163, or the National Service Training Program (NSTP).
Cruz said the country’s national defense suffered a setback since the NSTP was enacted in 2002. The situation worsened last year as universities reported a 70 percent decline in Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) enrollees. (AIV/AP)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 6, 2006 issue)
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