MANILA, 26 February 2006 — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday cracked down on her opponents with police arresting her known critics and raiding an opposition newspaper.
Contrary to an assurance that there would be no arrests without warrant under a state of emergency the president declared Friday, police began picking up her known critics.
Congressman Crispin Beltran was the first to be picked up. He was arrested under a warrant pending against him for the last 21 years. Two former police generals were taken into custody at a golf course. One had previously urged Arroyo to resign, and the other backed Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 election won by Arroyo.
Shortly after Arroyo declared the state of emergency, riot police quickly used force to disperse two protests. They arrested 25 people, including political commentator Randy David, a respected professor who has asked Arroyo to resign.
Early yesterday, police barged into the offices of The Daily Tribune and confiscated editorial materials and a bundle of newspapers headlining Arroyo’s declaration. Police were posted at the door, but it was not clear if they intended to close the office, publisher Ninez Cacho Olivarez said.
The newspaper, owned by Olivarez’s family, has been among the most critical of Arroyo.
On Friday, Arroyo invoked emergency rule, citing a “systematic conspiracy” against her by members of the opposition, communists and “military adventurists.”
“(The) military has effectively crushed the plot but some people responsible for it are still out there,” national police chief Arturo Lomibao told reporters.
About a dozen army and air force lieutenants, who were recruited to take part in the coup, turned themselves in to senior commanders, in the first apparent admission that there was a plan to destabilize the government.
