US urges respect for civil liberties, human rights
MANILA – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of national emergency Feb. 24 and warned those planning to grab power that their betrayal will be dealt with under the full force of the law.
All protests were banned after Arroyo issued the proclamation directing the armed forces to stop the efforts of a “tactical alliance” between right-wing and communist forces to “create an unconstitutional regime.”


The United States called on government and the Filipino people “to respect fully the rule of law, protect civil liberties and human rights, and reject violence.” “The US Government is monitoring the situation in the Philippines very closely,” the embassy said in a statement.  Washington also urged more than 100,000 Americans living in the former US colony to “take prudent steps to ensure their personal safety during this uncertain time,” US embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said in a statement read on national television.
Police used truncheons and water hoses to break off demonstrations staged at Edsa to mark the 20th anniversary of People Power which overthrew President Marcos in 1986. But they allowed another group of rallyists led by former President Corazon Aquino to march to the Ninoy Memorial plaza in Makati city.
The President ordered the arrest of military officers and civilians involved in an alleged plot to overthrow her government. Arroyo’s declaration is contained in Proclamation 1017, which she signed after a lengthy meeting with Cabinet members and police and military officials in Malaca±ang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
“This is my warning to those who plan to grab power, your betrayal will be dealt with under the full force of the law,” Arroyo said in her statement aired live on radio and television.
Arroyo declared a state of emergency hours after the military allegedly thwarted a plot to oust her. Officials said rebel military officers were planning to call for the President’s ouster at rallies Feb. 24 marking the 20th anniversary of the 1986 “People Power” revolution in the Philippines.
Arroyo said she had ordered the arrest of personalities involved in the plot, including their financiers.
A military statement said Brigadier General Danilo Lim, the commander of the Philippine army’s elite Scout Rangers, had been taken into custody along with Chief Superintendent  Marcelino Franco, head of the national police Special Action Force, whose rank is equivalent to brigadier-general.
Lim had been involved in a bloody 1989 coup attempt against former president Corazon Aquino but was promoted after he and other rebel officers were pardoned as part of efforts to heal divisions in the 120,000-strong armed forces.
 Arroyo said civilians were involved in the alleged plot and “we will not overlook those who have been providing support and money to this effort.”
 “We will not allow the financiers and political supporters of this rebellion to get away,” she said. An unspecified number of other people also were taken into custody, and police were seeking eight to 10 more, said Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor.
“The government has crushed this illegal action,” Arroyo said in a televised address, calling for calm as armed troops sealed off the presidential palace and military camps in the city.
In the declaration released to media at 11:20 a.m., Arroyo invoked Section 18, Article 7 of the Constitution that allowed the President to call on the armed forces to prevent or suppress rebellion.
The proclamation will also pave the way for warrantless arrests, government takeover of utilities, including media, and a ban on rallies, Defensor said. Arroyo noted, “Claims of these elements had been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media.” In her one-page emergency proclamation, Arroyo said communist guerrillas and right-wing “military adventurists” were “now in a tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted government elected in May 2004.”
She said the series of destabilization efforts were hurting the country “by obstructing governance, including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government.”
“As commander-in-chief, I control the situation,” said Arroyo, who has survived two violent attempts to oust her since she was installed as president after a military mutiny brought down her predecessor Joseph Estrada in 2001.
Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Rosales, recently named cardinal by the Vatican, warned that “it doesn’t look good if our government declares a state of emergency” in the country and called for a peaceful dialogue.
Lawyers said the Arroyo proclamation was not equivalent to martial law and essentially allowed the President to mobilize the military to crush a rebellion. The normal judicial system remains in place.
The latest Philippine crisis overshadowed celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the 1986 military uprising that toppled the late martial-law ruler Ferdinand Marcos and helped inspire pro-democracy movements worldwide.