MANILA, 25 December 2004 — The military and police yesterday assured the public of peaceful yuletide celebrations amid concerns over new plots to destabilize the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“Let us not worry about this and continue the celebration of the holidays,” said Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual, chief of the military’s Public Information Office. He said that intelligence units of the military were monitoring possible security threats.
Apart from a standing truce between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), communist rebels have also declared a cease-fire.
President Arroyo in a statement yesterday said this Christmas “should be most meaningful to Filipinos after they weathered many challenges with a deep, abiding faith in God.”
She also thanked the Filipinos for supporting her despite alleged new plots to unseat her. She paid tribute to Filipino fortitude after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said a growing number of Filipinos expected a sad Christmas.
Filipinos have a deep and overflowing faith that carried them through the many challenges in their personal lives and as a nation, according to Arroyo.
“Let us pursue the reforms I have started to curb corruption, raise revenue collection and improve the economy so we can end poverty,” she said in Filipino.
Fizzled Out
Security forces had been on heightened alert following the death of action movie “king” Fernando Poe Jr., who narrowly lost but never conceded defeat in the May 10 presidential election.
Authorities warned of an “evolving conspiracy” to incite the fans and supporters of as hundreds of thousands of people to turn against the government.
Five battalions of soldiers from nearby provinces were called to Manila and placed on standby for any outbreak of violence.
However, no untoward incident occurred at Poe’s funeral, prompting the military to lower its alert and allow the augmentation forces to return to their bases.
A high-ranking police officer yesterday said political adventurers who had tried to exploit the death of Poe to destabilize the government were rebuffed when the movie hero’s followers rejected calls to march on Malacanang after his funeral.
“They were banking on the strength of the FPJ forces, but they missed assessing correctly that these people were ordinary movie fans who would not be roused to take political actions,” said Senior Supt. Rodolfo Mendoza, deputy chief of the national police’s Crime Investigation and Detection Group.
Mendoza said the PNP had monitored “organized political groups” massing in the cities of Makati and Caloocan on Wednesday, ready to move to Mendiola “if the funeral goers decide to march on Malacanang.”
But most of those who had earlier queued at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City to view Poe’s remains were “legitimate fans in their 50s and 60s,” Mendoza said.
He also said the refusal of Poe’s widow, Susan Roces, to lead the march on Malacanang was another blow to the alleged destabilization plot.
No Arrests
Meanwhile, the military issued a statement denying media reports that two officers had been arrested for hatching plots against the government. Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano, spokesman of the an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said the army commanding general only invited the two colonels — Jose Gamus and Oscarlito Mapalo — for questioning.
Yano stressed yesterday that Gamus and Mapalo were neither “wanted” by the military nor were they fugitives.
Mapalo, who served as deputy chief of the Army’s Ordnance and Chemical Unit, has been on terminal leave since Aug. 13.
Colonel Pascual yesterday said Gamus has been restricted to his quarters since May for campaigning for Arroyo’s defeated rival in the May 10 presidential elections, in violation of military regulations.
Mendoza yesterday said he had tried to convince Mapalo to appear at a press conference “to denounce the others who were involved in the plot.”
“He refused,” Mendoza said.
According to Mendoza, Mapalo was contacted by opposition groups to join the alleged plot to oust Arroyo after being bypassed by a “rotten and politicized” system of promotion in the AFP.
Mapalo, a member of the PMA Class of 1979, was last assigned to the army’s logistics unit in Fort Bonifacio.
High Risk Warning
In New Zealand, the government warned travelers that the Philippines is a high risk area for travel, with a heightened threat of terrorism throughout the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said yesterday that the “high risk” ranking “reflects new information suggesting an increased terrorist threat” in areas including Manila. It said there was a serious risk of terrorism and kidnapping, and warned New Zealanders to be very careful.
It didn’t cite sources, saying only that “this travel advice has been reviewed, reissued, and upgraded on Dec. 24 2004.”
It recommended that tourism and nonessential travel be deferred for all areas of the Philippines, and that the southern Philippines be avoided altogether.
The no-travel areas included all of Mindanao, the ministry said on its website.
Last week, New Zealand along with Australia, the United States, Britain and Japan warned that terrorists were preparing to launch attacks against Western targets in Indonesia. (Additional input from agencies & INS)
