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Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Erap aide arrested; rap poised v. Gringo
POLICE arrested Monday an aide of deposed former president Joseph Estrada, as the government vowed to pursue the political backers of a failed military mutiny and limit the damage to the country's image and economy.
Ramon Cardenas, a senior deputy executive secretary during Estrada's term, was arrested following a raid on his home in a plush community near a residential and commercial building where the mutineers had holed up before surrendering late Sunday.
Government officials are also preparing rebellion charges against opposition Sen. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, who in the 1980s led coup attempts.
Honasan, a former military officer, did not attend President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (Sona) Monday, but he sent word he will speak before the Senate Tuesday.
Arroyo vowed that her government will hunt down the political backers of the rebellion led by junior military officers.
In her annual address before Congress, Arroyo also said she will form an independent commission "to investigate the roots of the mutiny and the provocations that inspired it."
The 22-hour rebellion ended peacefully on Sunday.
"Yesterday without bloodshed, without damage to property, and within a single day, we overcame an ill-conceived mutiny carried out by misguided military officers," Arroyo said in her speech.
"Such actions are deplorable and will be met with the full force of the law, including their political components," she said.
Two other independent commissions will be created to investigate the Davao City bombing in March and to look into reforms in the Philippine National Police.
"I am sure they (police force) themselves welcome a comprehensive reform that will cure the organization not only of the failures of the scale of the al-Ghozi escape but also the daily devils, that are the (bribe-taking) cops," she said in her Sona that lasted 48 minutes.
The President also said the country by now, should be at peace.
"At peace in the south, at peace in the countryside, safe in our homes and secure in our communities," she said. "But we remain at war. At war against terrorism, at war against corruption, at war against disease. At war against drugs, the greatest menace facing our country today."
Interior Secretary Jose Lina earlier Monday said the military officers were not acting on their own and had backing from political figures close to Estrada.
Evidence was also being gathered against Honasan, a key Estrada ally.
Honasan, a former army colonel who led seven bloody coup attempts in the 1980s, had denied the accusation. He was however present during negotiations that led to the rebels' surrender.
Estrada's lawyer and spokesman, Raymond Fortun, accused the government of framing up Estrada and his allies in order to steer public attention from Arroyo's failures.
It was impossible for the mutiny leaders to have left anything at the alleged "safehouses" or leave behind evidence that could be traced to them, Fortun said.
Estrada, who is now detained on corruption charges, maintains he was illegally unseated by Arroyo in a military-backed people power in January 2001.
Police said they seized from Cardenas' home military uniforms, three assault rifles, a huge cache of ammunition, red arm bands similar to those worn by the rebels and medical supplies.
On Sunday, police also raided a house allegedly owned by an Estrada mistress and recovered similar materials.
Cardenas, a 65-year-old bachelor, was brought before state prosecutors for inquest, during which he denied any knowledge of the coup plot.
"I just arrived last Wednesday from a medical check up in the United States," Cardenas told reporters, before invoking his constitutional right to remain silent.
(July 29, 2003 issue)
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