Magdalo group linked to destabilization plot
DAVAO CITY – Adventurist military officers, especially the “Magdalo” group associated with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV – a former naval officer – remain a threat to national security, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said yesterday.
Gonzales said the Cabinet’s security cluster is set to meet today to discuss what he said was a plot to destabilize and overthrow the government.
“We don’t want people to get alarmed because the government can handle this,” he said. “But we can never be 100 percent certain. The threat from some elements in the Armeed Forces remains, like Trillanes and his group, but they are closely monitored.”
Mrs. Arroyo will finish her term despite the threats, Gonzales added.
A ranking security official meanwhile said yesterday leftist groups caused the seven major fires that hit urban poor areas in Metro Manila this month as part of efforts to overthrow the government.
“The fires were supposed to make the urban poor feel desperate and angry and to create an angry mob against the government,” the official said.
The official, who asked not to be named, said it would be easy to swell the ranks of protest rallies organized by the opposition if many of the poor are angry.
“There could be more in the coming days but we will stop them,” the source said without giving details.
The official said there were also reports of water pipes being destroyed in urban areas, but it was not clear whether they were part of efforts to create dissatisfaction with President Arroyo.
Intelligence agencies received a report as early as October that some opposition figures working with leftist groups would trigger fires in depressed areas in Metro Manila, the official added.
Police, meanwhile, are pushing for the transfer of Trillanes to another detention facility outside of
‘Don’t look at me!’
That’s ousted President Joseph Estrada’s response to reports linking him to an alleged new destabilization plot against the government.
Speaking at the weekly “Kapihan sa
“I don’t know about coup d’etat,” he said. “I was the one who was victimized by coup d’etat.”
Estrada said he has only read about the alleged destabilization plot in the newspapers. “I don’t know anything about the coup d’etat, although they have continued to link me to them.”
His statement was echoied by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who was in the same forum.
“For and on behalf of the United Opposition (UNO), we have no knowledge about it,” Binay said.
Estrada said the government should focus on the problems of corruption in government and poverty among the majority of Filipinos.
“Are we better off today than during my time?” he asked.
“Isn’t it true that there is more corruption today? Isn’t it there are many people who are suffering from hunger? I was unconstitutionally removed.
“The people have expressed their voice through the ballot. Vox Populi, Vox Deis. The voice of the people is the voice of God. What is happening in our country right now is an indication that the Lord is also capable of getting angry. He was angered by the corruption in our country.”
Estrada said during the 1950s and the 1960s, the
“We had a better economy compared with
‘Farmers part of plot’
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez linked yesterday the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) to an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
“If mass actions are undertaken by one group, other groups tend to ride on the issue,” he told reporters yesterday.
“(They have a) common agenda for President (Arroyo) to be out... I don’t know if these groups are collaborating but my information is that groups from (different parts of)
Gonzalez said the KMP plans to hold a rally on Jan. 22 to assemble anti-Arroyo forces to bring down Mrs. Arroyo and the government.
“The leftists and rightists have a modus vivendi insofar as the oust Gloria (idea) is concerned,” he said.
On Jan. 22, farmers belonging to KMP will march from the provinces to a pre-arranged point in Metro Manila, where they will hold a protest action in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre.
Gonzalez said information he had received identified one of the points of convergence or “targets” as the main office of the Department of Agrarian Reform in
The groups that would join the rally are “communists, pseudo-communists, those who just want to create trouble, and even those who are well-placed in society,” he added.
He does not have any information linking the opposition to the supposed destabilization plot, he added.
However, Rafael Mariano, KMP chairman and Anakpawis party-list president, said their protest action will focus on calls for justice for the 13 farmers who died at Chino Roces (Mendiola) Bridge in January 1987.
“We are also carrying the demand of our martyrs for genuine agrarian reform and land to the tiller,” he said.
“We have nothing to hide on this mass action and in fact we are even arranging for a press conference to announce it. It is laughable though that Secretary Gonzalez is making as if we are going to take over Malacañang or something.
“He should stop making us as an excuse to hide his fascist bent in further restricting the media. He deserves all the flak that he is getting for hiding the truth and being a rabid lapdog of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.”
Mariano said they would push through with their mass action despite the “psy-war tactic” of the administration to hamper their demand for land and justice.
“For decades farmers have been calling out for land and justice, but up till now their calls have not been heeded. It is utterly sadistic for the Arroyo regime to sabotage us when we band together and amplify our call in mass actions,” he said.
‘Arrest the plotters’
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon yesterday dared authorities, particularly Justice Secretary Gonzalez, to arrest individuals plotting to destabilize the government.
“It seems that Secretary Raul Gonzalez had assumed the role of spokesman for security matters in this country,” he said.
“He had always been the one talking about destabilization, coup plots. If there is any destabilizer now in the country, it is announcements like these by no less than the trusted lieutenants of (President Arroyo.)
“If Gonzalez has a better intelligence network, he should turn that information or source over to the defense department. I pity the Armed Forces, they have huge intelligence funds, maybe they are being funneled to Gonzalez.”
Biazon said the Department of National Defense, Armed Forces, police, and other national security agencies must tackle the issues on national security, not the justice secretary.
“His (Gonzalez’s) announcement again is being downplayed, not denied by national security officials including no less than the AFP (Armed Forces of the
“My advice is if indeed they have these reports, and they have identified these destabilizers, they should arrest them. Why not name them?
“Is this drama being orchestrated and if it is, by whom and for what reason? Is this a drama that is being foisted upon us because of the possibility of an extension (of the term) of the AFP chief of staff?”
Biazon said the government could not be at peace as long as various issues like the “Hello, Garci” scandal, the national broadband network deal, the fertilizer fund scam, the Northrail project and others remain unresolved.
“These are issues that will always be raised against the administration and there will be elements, for their own purposes, (who will) use these issues for their own motive,” he said.
‘Pure baloney’
Militant groups dismissed yesterday as “pure baloney” the statement of Gonzalez about a destabilization plot in the coming days to coincide with the anniversaries of EDSA 2 and the Mendiola Massacre.
“It is only meant to justify the patently unconstitutional media memorandum of the DOJ which restricts coverage and the right of the people to information,” said Renato Reyes Jr., Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary-general.
“The government is so desperate it is trying to whip up destabilization scenarios so that it could justify more repression.”
Reyes said a gathering of anti-Arroyo groups is set on Jan. 18 to mark seven years of the Arroyo presidency.
“This year marks seven years of the Arroyo government,” he said.
“She is now the longest-serving Philippine president since Marcos. Those seven years were marked with corruption, extrajudicial killings and repression, abuse of power by the government and economic hardships for the people.
“There’s definitely nothing wrong with marking seven years of a rotten regime. It’s once again a time for people to remember what this government owes us.”
Reyes said it was ridiculous for Mrs. Arroyo to be afraid of commemorating EDSA 2 since she was the main beneficiary of the people power uprising in 2001.
“Seven years ago the Arroyo officials were beside themselves with glee because of EDSA 2,” he said. “Now they are terrified of the mere mention of its commemoration.” — with Paolo Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Reinir Padua, Aurea Calica, Katherine Adraneda, Jaime Laude
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