Scout Ranger sacked for destabilization

A commander of the elite Scout Rangers was sacked for calling for a change of administration amid a vote-rigging scandal involving President Arroyo, the military announced yesterday.

Maj. Jason Aquino of the Army Scout Rangers was relieved as operations chief of the paratrooper unit in Bulacan, Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said.

Esperon, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) - Special Operations Command, said he ordered the relief of Aquino for distributing leaflets in military camps that openly questioned the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.

Aquino, along with Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) operations chief Col. Gregorio Catapang, was earlier reported by The STAR as allegedly involved in moves calling for the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo and a change in administration.

Catapang has denied involvement in moves to oust Mrs. Arroyo. Aquino has yet to comment on the allegations against him.

Aquino was traced as the source of "The New Order" pamphlets being distributed in military camps, Esperon said.

"He (Aquino) is calling for a change in the political setup," Esperon said. "We deemed it proper to relieve him."

He said Aquino, the class baron of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class ’91, is known for his critical thinking.

"He can entertain political thoughts but he cannot do it while in office," Esperon added.

Aquino’s relief came as the military rejected claims made by Sen. Rodolfo Biazon that junior officers are threatening to resign en masse unless their superiors, accused of conspiring with politicians during the May 10, 2004 elections, are investigated.

Esperon admitted Biazon, a former AFP chief, could have been tipped by his sources in the military on the planned resignation of junior officers.

Biazon claimed a group of officers are considering quitting to protest allegations that Mrs. Arroyo used the Army intelligence unit in last year’s polls.

Biazon, who ran under Mrs. Arroyo’s ticket last year, said a group of active-duty officers including several generals called on him on Saturday.

He claimed the officers were "hopping mad" over allegations that the administration used the military to steal the vote and asked him whether they should file mass resignations as a last resort.

Biazon said he prevailed over the group and advised them to stay put "because if they do this, this country will be thrown into chaos."

Among the military officials mentioned in the "Gloriagate" wiretap audio tapes was Esperon.

The wiretap tapes generated a political scandal that revealed Mrs. Arroyo talking to an election official in allegedly rigging the results of the last presidential election.

While Mrs. Arroyo admitted improperly calling a poll official during the vote count, she denied trying to fix the election results and stressed she will not step down over the allegations.

The case has triggered street protests and caused the financial markets to tumble.

Esperon declared before a news conference that he is willing to be investigated over the controversy. He was then the deputy chief of Task Force HOPE (honest, orderly and peaceful elections), with the duty of securing the peaceful conduct of last year’s vote.

Esperon stressed the military was not used in any operation involving electoral manipulation.

The only time when the military was called in to help was in the security of last year’s vote under Task Force HOPE, he said.

"Our mission is not to interfere in the honest, peaceful, and orderly elections," Esperon said. "I did my mission. I am proud of what I did."

Spare the men in uniform

Esperon also denied talking to former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, the poll official whom Mrs. Arroyo allegedly talked to on the wiretap tapes.

"I categorically deny that I talked to Garcillano regarding the plan to relieve General Gudane," Esperon said, referring to Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudane, the chief of "Task Force Ranao" during the election period.

Gudane was also mentioned among the military officials sympathetic to the political opposition.

Military information chief Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual said that there is "no basis" to investigate the generals mentioned in the wiretap tapes.

Pascual also denied claims made by Biazon of the threat of junior military officers to resign en masse.

"Based on counter-intelligence, we have not monitored officers threatening to resign," Pascual said.

Incoming AFP chief Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga said reports of alleged movements or plans of some restive elements in the military are being validated.

Senga stressed the AFP hierarchy is regularly conducting dialogues with junior officers and enlisted personnel to listen to and act on their gripes.

"We have free discussions but our officers are professional enough that their actions would be guided by our rules and regulations," he said. "The chain of command in intact."

Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye also appealed to opposition politicians "not to drag the (military) into the political arena."

"We appeal to our political leaders to spare the military from political controversy so as not to adversely affect its role in upholding the Constitution and protecting the people," Bunye said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, for his part, downplayed reports of restive elements within the military claiming this is precisely what the opposition wants.

"But from where I see it, I haven’t heard much disgruntlement," he said.

Ermita commented on the statement made by Biazon of the alleged restiveness of junior officers, noting the senator was acting as a "sounding board" of the soldiers.

Despite Mrs. Arroyo’s low popularity ratings while facing a slew of problems generated by the scandals rocking the administration, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the country would not be plunged into violence.

He said a majority of the people remain sober and want the current political troubles to end as soon as possible,

Gonzales said the military is not as fractious as portrayed in media.

But the Left and the political opposition are taking advantage of the situation of the growing criticism against the President in the ongoing crisis.

"There is really dissatisfaction by the people for politicians in general, including the opposition, whom they think are also part of the problem," Gonzales said. "But it is not in the nature of the Filipino to turn to violence."

The Philippine National Police (PNP) likewise branded as "too fantastic" reports that police will join moves to oust Mrs. Arroyo.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said the PNP remains steadfast behind the chain of command and the duly constituted authorities.

"The scenario of PNP units joining destabilization or anti-administration moves is just too fantastic," Bataoil said.

Bataoil claimed there is no such sentiment in any of the regional and provincial inspection sorties of PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao, even during the height of the jueteng and wiretapping controversies.

Bataoil appealed to the opposition to spare the PNP and the people from "partisan bickering."

He also expressed optimism that the challenges being faced by the administration will be overcome.

"Anything outside or beyond the scope of the Constitution would be unlawful and the PNP will not allow this to happen," he said. – With Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AFP