Feb 24, 2006
JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
Yahoo News
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency Friday, saying she had quashed a coup plot, and the military confined troops to their camps to keep them from joining growing protests against her rule.
Graphic: Government troopers arrive with their Armoured Personnel Carriers to reinforce their comrades at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Headquarters at suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, following an alleged attempted coup Friday Feb. 24, 2006. The military tried to quash a possible coup attempt Friday, arresting an army general accused of involvement in the plan and urging soldiers not to get involved in politics by joining demonstrations calling for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to quit. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
Clashes erupted as riot police used water cannons to disperse about 5,000 protesters defying a ban on rallying at a shrine to the 1986 uprising that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Police used truncheons and shields to roust a stone-throwing group trying to gather for a second protest. Several people were arrested; others were bloodied.
Former President Corazon Aquino and about 5,000 people were later allowed to march peacefully to a memorial to her late husband Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 sparked massive protests that led to the revolt against Marcos.
Riot police later moved in to clear out marchers who had lingered after dark and ignored a deadline to disperse.
Amid a massive security clampdown, the military barricaded its camps to keep troops from joining the demonstrations and detained an army general allegedly involved in the takeover plot. The military has played major roles in two popular revolts and has a recent history of restiveness.
While she vowed she was in control, Arroyo clearly was worried about losing her grip on events as her opponents tried to hijack the anniversary activities.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye told reporters that commemorations have been canceled and that the military was ordered "to prevent and suppress lawless violence."
Many Filipinos see the four-day "people power" revolt on Feb. 25, 1986, as their country's proudest moment.
Arroyo, who survived two earlier coup attempts, said the political opposition and extremists on both left and right were determined to bring down the elected government.
"I am declaring a state of emergency because of the clear threat to the nation," a defiant Arroyo said in a taped, nationally televised statement.
"This is my warning against those who threaten the government: the whole weight of the law will fall on your treason."
Appealing for calm, she claimed the military had quashed a coup plot by some military officers and their men.
"There were a few who tried to break from the armed forces chain of command, to fight the civilian government and establish a regime outside the constitution," said Arroyo, who held a pre-dawn emergency meeting of her national security council. "We crushed this attempt."
She stopped short of declaring martial law, a sensitive issue because Marcos used it to rule by decree.
Her chief of staff, Mike Defensor, said no curfew will be imposed but the declaration bans rallies, allows arrest without warrant, permits the president to call in the military to intervene and lets her take over facilities — including media outlets — that may affect national security.
Arroyo's aides linked former President
Joseph Estrada, ex-Sen. Gregorio Honasan and two of her vocal critics to the plot.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said Estrada is suspected to have funded destabilization efforts. "We know he has given some money to this," Gonzales told reporters.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales also implicated Honasan as well as two outspoken Arroyo critics. He did not give details, but when asked if Honasan would be charged and possibly arrested, he replied: "Yes."
Estrada laughed off the allegations, saying he's been out of work and under detention for five years and didn't have the money to finance a coup. "I don't have any work, how can I finance?" he asked.
Honasan, a former army colonel, has been linked to a number of failed coup plots. He could not immediately be reached for comment but has denied involvement in any violent attempt to overthrow Arroyo.
Aquino, a one-time Arroyo ally, criticized the emergency declaration and reiterated a call for Arroyo to "make the supreme sacrifice" and resign.
"I believe that during these times, we should not forget that many sacrificed to regain our democracy," Aquino said. "We cannot just keep quiet because that is what happened during martial law. Our dictator then believed that he can do anything to keep himself in power."
The opposition said the declaration showed the government's desperation.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the largest lawyers' group in the country, said it will question the legality of Arroyo's declaration before the Supreme court, according to its president, Anselmo Cadiz.
"It could result in more political hemorrhage and security risk," said Rep. Roilo Golez, Arroyo's former national security adviser, who withdrew support from her. "This could get out of control ... if her crisis team doesn't manage this well."
Rep. Teodoro Casino, a leftist leader, said anti-Arroyo protests won't end.
The Philippine stock market and the peso both plunged.
The U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the situation closely.
"We firmly support the rule of law and constitutional government. Violence should be avoided," spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus said.
Military chiefs said they backed Arroyo. They arrested an unspecified number of people, including an army general who leads an elite special forces unit, for alleged involvement in a coup plot.
"We have reduced the threat," army chief of staff Gen. Generoso Senga said. "We cannot say that it has been stopped."
Police already were on heightened alert nationwide as widespread reports of a coup plot have been circulating for more than a week; even elementary school students were discussing it in detail.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has said the coup plot involved forcibly removing Arroyo, establishing a revolutionary government and abolishing "democratic institutions."
Arroyo survived three impeachment bids in September, when her dominant allies in the House of Representatives used a technicality to block complaints of alleged massive corruption and vote-rigging.
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