MANILA, 27 July 2003 — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo exposed yesterday a military plot to overthrow her government and ordered a hunt for up to 70 officers and men involved in the revolt. Arroyo’s order followed an emergency Cabinet meeting at the Malacanang presidential palace and a call by Manila’s influential archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Sin, on Filipinos to get ready to defend the government from any coup attempt.
Arroyo said the conspirators are “a small band of rogue junior officers and soldiers who have deserted their post and illegally brought weapons with them.”
She said the government will “exact the maximum penalty for the purveyors of mutiny and rebellion,” and warned “unscrupulous politicians who exploit the messianic complex of these rogue officers for their naked ambition.”
Security had been heightened in most of the military’s major camps since Friday in anticipation of the reported mutiny.
At the southern Philippines military headquarters in Zamboanga City, the largest military installation outside Manila, American troops participating in a joint military exercise with local troops were seen patrolling inside the camp.
House of Representatives Speaker Jose de Venecia said a plot by military men “to destabilize the government” had been foiled. The military chief said the president had the armed forces’ “solid support.”
Military chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, who attended the Cabinet meeting, said the military uncovered a plot by “some rogue junior officers and soldiers to ... engage in an unconstitutional adventurous exercise.” The men “have associated themselves with some groups with personal and or political interests,” he added.
He said they will be charged with mutiny and conspiracy to commit rebellion.
Abaya pledged the military’s “loyalty to the constitution and our democratic institutions and our solid support for our commander in chief.”
He identified at least 10 officers being sought from the army and navy, including several captains, the highest rank, mostly from the special operations command. He said about 10 other officers also left their posts with 40 enlisted men.
“This is an exercise doomed from the start. It has no moral cause,” Arroyo said, reading from a prepared statement at the palace. Abaya said the number of mutineers was “very much less” than in past coup attempts. But he added, “we cannot be complacent about the smaller number because they can do some damage.”
There were several coup attempts against former President Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s by officers complaining of corruption. The most prominent coup leader was former army Col. Gregorio Honasan, who is now a senator.
At least six of the 10 wanted officers belong to the 1995 class of the elite Philippine Military Academy, whose members had dinner with Arroyo on Wednesday. According to the presidential spokesman, they offered assurances they were not thinking of any destabilization moves although they did air grievances, including low and unequal pay.
Hours earlier yesterday, Cardinal Sin said plots to destabilize the government were credible and called on Filipinos to be vigilant. Sin, in a letter distributed by his office, said “credible sources” in the government and military believed that plotters were set on “undermining and if possible overturning even with violence the democratic institutions of our country.”
He didn’t identify who might be behind such plots, but reminded Filipinos to be “alert and vigilant” and “move to whatever action may be called for and necessary to guard our president.”
As the leader of the Philippines’ powerful Catholic Church, Sin has extensive government and military contacts.
