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MANILA – Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno has confirmed the fresh destabilization plot against the Arroyo administration earlier announced by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
Puno said the people behind the plot were the same personalities who were linked to previous destabilization attempts against the Arroyo administration. He said the instigators were using cellphone text messages to encourage troops to withdraw support for the Arroyo administration.
The senior Cabinet member, however, said that the organizers have failed since members of the Armed Forces remained loyal to the government and the Constitution.
He added that soldiers have grown tired of destabilization efforts and they realized that there are more important matters that should be their priority.
The military earlier ordered the relief of six junior officers from their positions for allegedly recruiting troops for a coup plot against the Arroyo administration.
Esperon declined to identify the six officers. He said the six are being investigated for their supposed involvement in the recruitment for a fresh destabilization plot against the administration.
Esperon said the military leadership is also monitoring other groups that could be involved in the plot to unseat Mrs. Arroyo.
Meanwhile, Esperon said a battalion of the Special Operation Wing has been dispatched to the military’s national headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.
He said the unit will serve as an augmentation force for the AFP-National Capital Region Command. The deployment is reportedly part of the military’s preparation for possible attacks.
“We needed these extra troops just in case,” Esperon told reporters. “As we have said, there are attempts. We want to be on the safe side. We want to have the forces available here with us."
Esperon said the movement of the additional forces was also part of the military’s operational exercises, testing how fast soldiers could be moved around in times of crisis.
“We want to make sure that we can do what we want to do when there are contingencies that we have to address," he said, adding that the extra troops would be returned to their bases as soon as the situation normalizes.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said security had been tightened around prisons holding military officers who were accused of involvement in past coup plots and awaiting trial.
Marine Commandant Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said Friday that political personalities seeking change are behind the destabilization plot.
“I believe these are the personalities, political personalities, who want change, and most likely they have supporters within the ranks of the Armed Forces," Dolorfino told ABS-CBN News.
Esperon said the military discovered the fresh plot to grab power after several soldiers told their superiors about the recruitment efforts. He said the national broadband network issue is being used by the recruiters.
“Too bad for them, our soldiers have been imbued with the idea that it is only through the chain of command that we should be performing our duties," he said.
He said the coup recruiters have links to politicians and leftist groups seeking Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster.
Dolorfino, who was in Mindanao visiting Marines tasked to go after the Abu Sayyaf bandits, said military commanders are constantly reminding the troops to remain loyal to the Constitution and to the chain of command. “There are text messages from time to time, which I believe intends to sow intrigue in the Armed Forces," he said.
The military has been instrumental in the overthrow of two presidents since 1986. Mrs. Arroyo, who was propelled to power after an Army-backed uprising in 2001, survived a coup attempt in 2003.
The military has said allegations of kickbacks in a state deal with a Chinese telecommunications company have encouraged anti-Arroyo groups to stir up trouble among troops.
But analysts cautioned that the government could be heightening the alleged risk to divert attention from the kickbacks scandal and keep the opposition in check.
“There might be a group of rogue soldiers but they don’t have the capability to topple the government. Besides, most of their leaders are under detention," said Earl Parre__o, a political analyst at the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms.
Pong Querubin, wife of embattled Marine Col. Ariel Querubin, said Esperon’s announcement about a fresh coup plot against the administration is just another “desk intelligence report.”
“Gawa-gawa lang nila iyan (That’s a fabrication). Every intelligence report has a corresponding intelligence operation. If there are intelligence operations there is a corresponding budget," Querubin said.
Querubin’s husband is currently detained in a military detention facility in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. Her husband is being accused of leading the failed coup plot against Mrs. Arroyo in February 2006.
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