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Monday, January 21, 2008
Cops on full alert for Jan. 22 coup plot
MANILA -- The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Sunday went on a full alert status in time for the planned demonstrations in various parts of Metro Manila on Monday and Tuesday when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said a destabilization plot would be launched against the government.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said they are bracing for the possible infiltration of the ranks of the rallyists, which are mostly from farmers organizations such as the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) who are commemorating the anniversary of the Mendiola massacre.
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"While we secure the ranks of rallyists because they could be infiltrated, we also definitely will secure the majority that will be affected by the rallies -- the students, those who will go to work, the ordinary citizens who use the roads to go to their respective activities," said Bartolome.
Militant farmers from as far as Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon regions have already come to Metro Manila for the planned rallies. They are going to hold rallies at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Quezon on Monday and march to Mendiola the following day.
Bartolome also said the alert status of police units in Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon, and the elite Special Action Force would be "heightened" so that they would be ready to send reinforcements to the National Capital Region (NCR) in case untoward incidents occur.
Bartolome said aside from Mendiola, police are also expecting rallies at the Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City and at the historic Edsa Shrine -- site of the historic unseating of former Presidents Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986 and Joseph Estrada in January 2001.
Critics of the Arroyo government will hold protests on Monday to commemorate the Edsa People Power II Revolution in 2001 that catapulted then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the presidency over Estrada.
Bartolome said the PNP declared the full alert status in Metro Manila because of reports of destabilization moves.
Gonzalez warned of destabilization move for January 22. He said the plot is similar to the November 29 standoff at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and former Scout Ranger chief Danilo Lim.
Bartolome said the planned destabilization for January 22 is highly possible, noting that the standoff at the Manila Peninsula was only two months ago. He said there are reports that the coup plotters would take advantage of the planned demonstrations.
Last Tuesday, police and military agents arrested five men, four of them discharged soldiers, for alleged involvement in the latest destabilization plan. The five were initially charged with illegal possession of firearms but two of them were cleared and subsequently released from detention. (VR/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (January 21, 2008 issue)
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