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Friday, February 24, 2006
Security tight amid spiraling coup rumors (11:26 a.m.)
MANILA -- A showdown over the Philippine presidency loomed Friday as people defied a ban on rallying at a shrine to the 1986 "people power" revolt and the military barricaded its camps to keep troops from joining in amid concerns of a coup attempt.
Police warned that people faced arrest if they demonstrate at the shrine on the Edsa highway, the rallying point for two "people power" revolts. But hundreds of people gathered there by late morning, chanting anti-Arroyo slogans, and others were marching to the site from suburban Quezon City.
Vidal Querol, the Metro Manila police chief, warned that the demonstrators faced dispersal.
Retired police Gen. Ramon Montano urged troops and police to join them. The military has played strong roles in the two "people power" revolts and has a recent history of restiveness.
Military chiefs said they backed the democratically elected Arroyo. They arrested an army general, who leads elite scout rangers, for alleged involvement in a coup plot and ensured that a marine colonel was in his barracks.
Already-tight security was bolstered in the capital. The government canceled rally permits and told schools to call off classes, aiming to keep the opposition from exploiting the scheduled demonstrations commemorating the 20th anniversary of the peaceful revolt that ousted Marcos.
Extra barbed wire and shipping containers were set up on roads leading to Malacanang, the presidential palace, and only essential staff were allowed in. Security council members had to leave their cars outside and walk into the compound.
Checkpoints appeared around the capital. Media were barred from the main military headquarters, Camp Aguinaldo, where reinforcements arrived in eight armored personnel carriers. An armored personnel carrier sat outside the marines' camp, with a truckload of marines in full battle gear nearby. (AP)
State of emergency eyed by Palace (9:13 a.m.)
Marine Colonel denies supporting pending coup (8:45 a.m.)
'Pending coup' launched v. Arroyo )
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