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Sunday, February 26, 2006
Marines protest relief of chief
MANILA -- (Updated 7:45 p.m.) A marines colonel Sunday urged Filipinos to turn out en masse to protect officers implicated in a foiled coup plot after the head of the elite unit was relieved of duties.
It was a clear sign that efforts to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remained alive two days after she imposed a state of emergency, saying the takeover plan had been quashed but that "treasonous" elements remained.
Several left-wing protest leaders rushed to the marine camp in suburban Manila to show their support.
Three armored personnel carriers, a tank and some 300 marines also arrived. It was unclear where their loyalties lay.
The marines were widely rumored to have been among military units involved in the coup plot. The military said Friday it nipped the plan in the bud before it could be launched.
Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda was relieved as commandant of the marines. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Tristan Kison said Miranda asked to be relieved of duties, citing personal reasons. Other reports suggested he had been forced out.
Marine Col. Ariel Querubin, named by the military Friday as a key figure in plans by marine officers and their troops to withdraw support for Arroyo, said he was joining Miranda in a show of support.
"Then we'll ... wait for all the people to really come here and protect us," he said.
Asked what they needed protection from, Querubin said, "From aggression."
Brig. Gen. Nelson Aliaga, who took over as marines commander, claimed the situation had no relation to politics, calling it an internal matter.
Kison said Miranda has not been implicated in the coup plot. He also played down widespread rumors of unauthorized troop movements and disgruntled troops.
"Let us remain calm, there is no reason to panic," Kison said.
A statement from the presidential palace said Miranda asked to be relieved and Querubin was to be taken into custody. It denied any unauthorized troop movements.
Querubin confirmed that marines had planned to walk out Friday in a show of support for the anti-Arroyo camp, claiming a majority of the elite force was ready to go but found the camp sealed in a security clampdown.
"The junior officers are really raring, they're so agitated, so I told them to avoid clashes and shooting, let us just march," he said.
Inside the marines camp, a mass of media swarmed anyone willing to talk.
After Querubin left the stage, a marine colonel, accompanied by a dozen armed men, approached TV crews, saying: "We want to express our disappointment over the relief of our commandant."
A higher officer ordered him: "Get inside, don't talk to them (the media) they're not the chain of command."
"I'm just showing my disappointment, sir," the colonel replied.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a former marine commandant and a known critic of Arroyo, said he rushed to marine headquarters, when he heard rumors that Miranda had been replaced.
Biazon told reporters he wanted to help pacify any possible problems.
Biazon was among officials who helped negotiate an end to a daylong mutiny by about 300 junior officers who took over a swank residential and shopping complex in Manila's financial district in 2003.
"I tried to prevent the soldiers from killing each other, and this is the same concern I have now," Biazon said in a TV interview.
The 8,000-strong marines are regarded as an elite, well-armed unit at the frontline of the government's war against Muslim and communist guerrillas and al-Qaida-linked militants in the country's volatile south.
Arrests, raids mark emergency rule
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