OUST-NOYNOY PLOT
MANILA, MARCH 7, 2012 (TRIBUNE) By Fernan J. Angeles and Mario J.
Mallari - Malacaang yesterday issued no more press statements about the alleged
ouster plot against the President even after a former rebel soldier who now sits
as a senator issued statements confirming the alleged destabilization effort.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (photo) has confirmed the existence of
destabilization moves against Aquino. He said that retired military officers
have been relentlessly trying to recruit men from the Armed Forces of the
Philippines as early as mid 2010.
Claiming to have checked and double checked on the alleged plot to kick
Aquino out of Malacaang, Trilanes went on to say that soldiers are given
debriefing kits which tend to show the President as a communist.
Trillanes said he has already informed the President of the plot ending
questions as to how Aquino got wind of the ouster plan.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has repeatedly shrugged off alleged
intelligence reports on the ouster bid even as top military officers expressed
surprise over what they described as obnoxious.
The AFP has called on the parties claiming knowledge of an ouster plot
against Aquino to substantiate their statements.
[PHOTO - The way they were! Then Navy officer and now Senator Antonio
Trillanes IV, shown in this file photo with Senator Gregorio Honasan at the
aborted mutiny at Oakwood hotel in Makati City on July 27, 2003, has confirmed
President Aquino's warning of a coup plot being hatched by retired generals
using the Communist bogey to gain supporters. FILE PHOTO BY
EY ACASIO]
Aquino himself divulged a supposed ouster plot against him at the anniversary
celebration of the Presidential Security Group last week.
My appeal is for the one giving out this information to substantiate reports
to help concerned agencies in further promoting peace and stability, which are
vital in preserving democracy in our land, said AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo
Marcelo Burgos Jr.
Burgos was reacting to claims made by former Constabulary chief retired Maj.
Gen. Ramon Montano who tagged personalities identified with former President and
now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, both in the business and political sectors, as
behind the alleged ouster plot against Aquino.
Montano, who served as Constabulary chief during the presidency of Aquinos
mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, said the businessmen and politicians,
who have connections in the military, are against the anti-corruption drive of
Aquino.
Montano, however, did not name names.
The AFP spokesman stressed that the 125,000-strong military organization is
solidly behind the administration of Aquino.
Among the ranks of the Armed Forces, I can truly say that we have not
received or monitored this kind of reportswe have been adhering to the chain of
command which remains strong. There is no truth to destabilization rumors,
Burgos said.
Meanwhile, in view of the coup rumors, the Palace made an obviously
conforming remark on a proposal that would give him back more than the
controversial Porsche that he once had.
Asked to comment on the House Resolution that would legitimize the purchase
of a new car for the use of the President, presidential spokesperson Edwin
Lacierda saw nothing wrong with the idea of getting a new car and not just a car
but a bullet proof one, for the Head of State, even as he claimed that it is
high time to replace what they claimed as relatively old presidential cars that
they can hardly be depended on.
In a text message to Palace reporters, Lacierda said that the House
Resolution authored by a Malacaang ally, is welcome news for the President who
has to use his personal vehicle on official functions.
We welcome the resolution of the House to provide the President with a more
updated bullet proof car, Lacierda said.
Interestingly, the congressmen behind the resolution are the same legislators
who signed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The resolution asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to provide
funds for a more state-of-the-art vehicle for the President.
House Resolution 2191, calls on the DBM to help protect Aquino by earmarking
funds for the purchase of a bullet-proof and bomb resistant state car in lieu of
the ones that were sent to semi-retirement after being submerged in 2009 under
floodwater resulting from the heavy downpour of tropical depression Ondoy.
Among those prominently proposing the purchase of a new car for Aquino are
Reps. Ben Evardone (Eastern Samar), Alfredo Benitez (Negros Occidental), Cesar
Sarmiento (Catanduanes) and Mel Senen Sarmiento (Western Samar). Interestingly,
all four congressmen are also considered as the pillars of an anti-Corona group
known as Movement 188.
They said the presidential vehicle has been sidelined by the Presidential
Security Group, which prompted Aquino to use his personal car for his daily use.
In a statement, the lawmakers said the three-vehicle official presidential
fleetconsisting of two Mercedes Benz W221 S-Class limousines acquired in 1998,
and a Mercedes Benz S-Guard automobile bought in 2007 are no longer serviceable
and unfit for use by the Chief Executive.
CATS Motors Inc., the dealer of the three vehicles and also in-charge of
maintaining the cars, has given up on the 2007-acquired vehicle after repairing
it six times since Typhoon Ondoy, and already advised the PSG against deploying
it for the Presidents use as it could malfunction anytime.
To drumbeat the acquisition of a new presidential car, the Presidential
Security Group said that it has stopped using the repair-prone 2007 limousine as
primary or secondary backup vehicle for Aquino, from the time it conked out on
the road during a presidential trip to Baguio City last year.
They added that the repeated breakdown of the flood-damaged computer and
electronic systems of this 2007-model official car compelled the President to
make use of his personal vehicle for his daily use.
The lawmakers said the DBM can realign funds from government savings for the
long-needed acquisition of a state car for the President, which will be used not
only by the Chief Executive but also by visiting heads of state.
FROM THE INQUIRER
Ex-officers behind oust-Aquino plot, says Trillanes
By Cathy Yamsuan Philippine Daily Inquirer
[PHOTO - Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER
FILE PHOTO]
The plot to oust President Benigno Aquino III is real and those behind it are
using the criminal cases filed against erring military officers to convince
recruits the current administration is antimilitary and procommunist.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said as much in a phone interview, adding that
those attempting to recruit soldiers to their cause were also spreading the
rumor that President Aquino had offered communist leader Jose Ma. Sison a
Cabinet post.
Trillanes said some retired military officers were doing the recruiting of
active Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel.
"They are using the same tactics and recruitment lines of the 1980s during
the time of President Cory (Aquino)," the senator said.
Last week at the anniversary of the Presidential Security Group, President
Aquino said there were people out to topple him.
While he did not identify those behind the supposed plot, Mr. Aquino
described them as those whose illegal activities had been adversely affected by
his anticorruption campaign.
"Concerned soldiers alerted me about this," said Trillanes, no stranger to
ouster plots himself following his leadership of two attempts to oust former
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The senator said possible recruits are invited to dinner where their
likelihood of joining a plot against the Aquino administration is gauged.
"The group that invites the soldiers floats ideas about an ouster plot. The
soldiers who appear or sound like they have a grudge are identified. They are
invited to another event where the conversation is taken to the next level,"
Trillanes said.
He, however, said that "many of those invited are not biting. That's how the
information reached us. The soldiers would rather report the anti-administration
efforts than join them."
Recruiters would reportedly weave into their conversations with potential
recruits the supposed harassment being heaped on Navy personnel accused in the
death of Navy Ensign Philip Pestaño, the human rights case lodged against
retired Major General Jovito Palparan and the plunder charge filed against
former AFP comptroller Brigadier General Carlos Garcia.
"The recruiters are making it appear that military officers are being
harassed by weaving together cases that are not related in any way. They also
point out that the release of members of the Morong 43 should be seen as
something objectionable," Trillanes said.
The Morong 43 is the group of health workers who were arrested by the
military in a resort in Morong, Rizal, for allegedly engaging in subversive
activities.
Trillanes said those being targeted for recruitment belonged to different
batches of the Philippine Military Academy. With Maila Ager,
INQUIRER.net
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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