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Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Arroyo government belittles coup rumors
MANILA -- Rumors of a coup d'etat against the Arroyo administration floated around Manila from Sunday night until Monday but these did not bother Malacañang in the least.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, also the presidential spokesman, said Monday that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would have opted to remain in the country if she feared being driven out of office.
Bunye said Arroyo was confident when she left for the 11th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Summit in Kuala Lumpur that the situation was under control.
He also dismissed the alleged coup plots as "mere rumors."
"What is clear is that the President is here in Kuala Lumpur to attend a very important international conference and she is confident that the situation is under control, that the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the police are on top of the situation and nothing untoward would happen while she is outside the country," Bunye said.
"I am not aware of any specific information that was submitted or forwarded to the President but I guess the bottom line is you don't go out of your base...you don't go out of your country if you feel that the situation does not warrant leaving the country," he added.
Rumors of Marine troops moving from the north to Manila circulated over the weekend, days after former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano testified before the House on the alleged wiretapping issue.
The Armed Forces and the police also went on alert but denied that it was due to the coup rumors. They claimed that the red alert is in response to the President's departure for Kuala Lumpur. (JMR/Sunnex)
(December 13, 2005 issue)
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