Government widens net; Maceda arrested

Taking a tougher stance against protest actions by forces loyal to her deposed predecessor Joseph Estrada, President Arroyo said yesterday more arrests of suspected coup plotters will be made in the coming days.

In related developments yesterday:

• Former Ambassador to the United States Ernesto Maceda was arrested for alleged complicity in the failed coup attempt.

• National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the government is mulling the arrest of two more sons of the disgraced president, Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito and Jude Estrada, for complicity in the purported power grab.

• Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, Philippine National Police intelligence chief, said opposition Sen. Gregorio Honasan, former PNP chief Panfilo Lacson and other key people identified with Estrada who are facing arrest have apparently gone into hiding.

President Arroyo said she ordered the police to break up any group of more than five people near Malacañang to prevent further violence.

Asked in a radio interview whether she would declare martial law if the protests erupted anew, she said; "They should not tempt me. If they accelerate this, I’ll have no choice."

Following Tuesday’s siege on the Palace, Mrs. Arroyo declared a "state of rebellion" in Metro Manila to enable the police to make warrantless arrests of suspected coup plotters.

Late Tuesday, police checkpoints were in evidence around the metropolis even as the street fighting between crowd dispersal units and stone-throwing pro-Estrada protesters died down. The attack on the Palace left at least four people dead and scores of others wounded, and was considered the most violent politics-related rioting in recent years.

The President said all public assemblies by pro-Estrada forces would be banned, and all rallies by the same group would be immediately dispersed.

Arroyo also accused some businessmen of financing the Estrada backers who marched to the presidential palace to call for her resignation and the reinstatement of her predecessor.

She said some businessmen would be arrested and charged with inciting to sedition.

The President assured the people, however, that the May 14 local and national elections will push through.

Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said there was no plan yet to reduce the number of military units deployed in Metro Manila to prevent further attempts to lay siege on the seat of government, as well as prevent attacks on vital installations.

At the same time, Mrs. Arroyo ordered an investigation into reports that drug syndicates were also involved in the launching of the attack on Malacañang.

She cited results of drug tests on the arrested pro-Estrada protesters which showed at least one-third of them were found to be under the influence of prohibited drugs.

Police arrest Maceda

Maceda, who was recalled from his post in Washington to act as spokesman of then embattled President Estrada for the aborted Senate impeachment trial, was arrested at his home by rifle-toting policemen, but offered no resistance.

Reporters said Maceda was fully dressed and appeared ready when the arresting team arrived.

Maceda’s arrest left six more people on the wanted list released by the justice department, although authorities were believed to be looking at the possible complicity of additional personalities.

Aside from Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile who was arrested on Tuesday, those already in custody are Chief Superintendent Victor Batac and Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso, who gave themselves up the other day.

Those still at large, apart from Lacson and Honasan, are Army Brig. Gen. Marcelino Malajacan, police Senior Superintendents Michael Ray Aquino and Cesar Mancao, People’s Movement Against Poverty president Ronald Lumbao and a certain Tañega.

Arresting teams of policemen and soldiers who raided a home in Altavista Valley Court in Loyola Heights in Quezon City, owned by a friend of Honasan and Lacson, came back empty-handed.

Occupants of the house became hysterical upon seeing policemen armed to the teeth, with two back-up helicopters, surrounding the area.
PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza said he has directed the entire PNP to be on the lookout for Honasan and Lacson, who were classmates at the Philippine Military Academy (Class ’71).

Special teams from the military were also dispatched to track down the two around the clock.

Berroya warned those evading arrest by saying "flight is normally associated with guilt."

Berroya said the fact that the suspects have gone into hiding "strengthened our suspicion that they are guilty." Text messages sent by mobile phones circulated yesterday that Lacson and Honasan were hiding in a hacienda owned by a prominent businessman in Negros island.

Berroya said he could not understand why Honasan and company would evade arrest.

"To make things better for all of us, I suggest that they simply surrender and not wait for us to effect their arrest," Mendoza said.

In a statement, Lacson, Mancao and Aquino said they have asked the Supreme Court to nullify the arrest order against them, and petitioned the court to issue a temporary restraining order against the PNP.

They also asked the High Tribunal to lift the hold departure order slapped on them by the justice department through the Bureau of Immigration.

Officials said opposition Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, initially eyed as a state witness in the prosecution of the cases, would be included in the wanted list after she turned down the offer.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said any arrest order against Santiago would be coursed through her brother, Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Defensor.

On the other hand, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said the government should "seriously consider confining Santiago in a mental institution."

"What she is doing isn’t funny anymore," KMU chairman Crispin Beltran said in a statement.

The KMU also said Santiago "has proven to be a patent liar," citing her promise to jump off an airplane without a parachute if Estrada were arrested.

Perez also divulged they are looking into reports that a big-time politicians and several businessmen financed the violent protest action.

Perez said some 50 leaders of the coup attempt would be charged as principals, while some 100 protesters would be cited as co-conspirators.

In a statement, the 66-year-old Maceda said his suffering from a heart ailment and diabetis made him unable to engage in any "stressful political adventurism."

Maceda said he turned down several offers that would enable him to go back to power.

"They said I delivered inflammatory speeches at EDSA. No such thing happened. Not being a candidate, I found no need for it. I was not even on stage Sunday and Monday when things heated up," Maceda said.

He also denied being present at a meeting at Estrada’s house in Greenhills, San Juan where the proposed siege on Malacañang was reportedly discussed.

Although he admitted regularly seeing Enrile, Honasan and Lacson, he maintained that they talked only about the "remaining days of the campaign and how to prevent dagdag-bawas (vote padding/vote shaving)."

Meanwhile, a leader of the military rightist group Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) said the group has dissociated itself from Honasan.

"He is not with us anymore. He broke away from us. We participated in EDSA 2, but he was with Estrada," said RAM chairman Commodore Domingo Calajate.

He said Honasan no longer holds sway on the RAM membership even if he was a member of the executive committee.

Honasan’s wife Jane said she talked with him yesterday afternoon and tried to persuade him to surrender to the authorities.

"He told me not to worry and that he would turn himself in soon. He was merely talking with his lawyers," Mrs. Honasan said.

She said her husband would not want to be a fugitive because he wants to be re-elected in the May 14 polls.

Asked how she felt about the arrest order against him, she replied; "This is history repeating itself."

A cashiered Army colonel, Honasan went into hiding after staging a series of coup attempts against then President Corazon Aquino.

He availed of the government’s amnesty program and eventually joined politics.

Meanwhile, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Wycoco said his operatives were closing in on a suspected financier of the assault on the Palace.

Wycoco said the NBI has witnesses who will identify the financier, as well as other leaders of the coup plot.

In the case of Honasan and Lacson, Wycoco expressed belief that the two are still in the country.

Honasan and Lacson, along with Enrile, are senatorial bets of the opposition coalition Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PnM-LDP).

JV, Jude also face arrest

Golez revealed that government prosecutors were assessing evidence to determine if Estrada sons JV and Jude could also be sued for rebellion.

"We are evaluating the possibility because we are getting mixed reports of the kind of participation that he (JV) had prior to the march (to Malacañang) ... and during the march. That includes Jude Estrada also," Golez said in a television interview.

Jude, an Air Force reservist with the rank of captain, allegedly gamely approved a plan hatched up by Lacson and Honasan to storm Malacañang, but some former aides of Estrada, including Edgardo Angara and former Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. were against it.

For his part, JV, not to be deterred by the objections, egged on Lumbao to unleash his forces on the Philippine Stock Exchange in Makati, with instructions to beat up any mestizo-looking man they may encounter.

Meanwhile, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño defended the arrest of suspected coup plotters without any warrant, saying the government can do it under a state of rebellion.

Zuño also pointed out that the authorities could not secure any warrants on Tuesday since it was Labor Day, a holiday.

The PNP has since upgraded the sedition charge against Enrile to rebellion after investigators found hard evidence to pin down the senator.

Chief Superintendent Nestorio Gualberto, head of the PNP’s criminal investigation and detection group, said rebellion suits would also be filed against Santiago Honasan, Lacson and Malajacan.

The investigators widened their probe to include the alleged complicity in the coup plot of at least 17 mayoral candidates.

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Eduardo Soliman said the suspects may find themselves in deeper trouble if it is established that some of the protesters who stormed the Palace were their constituents.

For his part, Cavite Gov. Ramon "Bong" Revilla jr. said he will look into reports that the Remulla clan and Cavite Rep. Ayong Maliksi recruited some 3,000 Caviteños for the attack on the Palace.

The would-be protesters were allegedly offered P500 each, but the amount was reduced to P300 by henchmen of the two politicians.

"These people were misled into believing that they had the full support of the Estradas, the Remullas and Maliksi for the rally. But as we all know by now, they were abandoned and now on their own at various hospitals," Revilla said.

He assured the victims of medical assistance.

The Western Police District is set to file rebellion raps against 93 arrested pro-Estrada supporters.

On the other hand, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it could not entertain petitions for the disqualification of candidates facing rebellion charges.

Comelec chairman Alfredo Benipayo said the rebellion or sedition cases against Enrile, Honasan, Lacson and Santiago could not be considered violation of the election law, and so could not be cited as grounds for disqualification.

He said the accused should be tried first and convicted before they could be disqualified. — Marichu Villanueva, Delon Porcalla, Sandy Araneta, Jaime Laude, Perseus Echeminada, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Christina Mendez, Pia Lee-Brago, Mike Frialde, Paolo Romero, Efren Danao, Romel Bagares, Edith Regalado, wire services