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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Coup plot report has Philippines on alert


Philippine Presidential Security Group members secure the street leading to the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila today amid concerns that a coup attempt was imminent. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Jim Gomez Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency today as she struggled against a reported coup plot and a possible repeat of the protests that ousted two of her predecessors.

Clashes erupted as police used water cannons to disperse about 5,000 protesters defying a ban on rallying at a shrine to the 1986 revolt that forced dictator Ferdinand Marcos into exile. The military barricaded its camps to keep troops from joining in and detained a general allegedly involved in the takeover plot.

The government canceled commemorations of the uprising and ordered the military “to prevent and suppress lawless violence,” presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

Many Filipinos see the four-day “people power” revolt on Feb. 25, 1986, as their country’s proudest moment.

Arroyo said her action was the result of ongoing efforts by the political opposition, along with both the extreme left and the extreme right, to bring down the elected government.

“I am declaring a state of emergency because of the clear threat to the nation,” a defiant Arroyo said in a taped, nationally televised statement.

“This is my warning against those who threaten the government: The whole weight of the law will fall on your treason. You are unhinging the economy from its strengthening pillars.”

Arroyo claimed the military had quashed an effort by some military officers and their men to intervene in politics. The military has played strong roles in the two “people power” revolts and has a recent history of restiveness.

“There were a few who tried to break from the armed forces chain of command, to fight the civilian government and establish a regime outside the constitution,” Arroyo said. “We crushed this attempt.

“As commander in chief, I control the situation,” said Arroyo, who held a pre-dawn emergency meeting of her national security council as the crisis threatened to spiral out of control. “My countrymen, I ask all of you to remain calm.”

She stopped short of declaring martial law, a sensitive issue as Marcos used it to rule by decree.

Her chief of staff, Mike Defensor, said the declaration will not include a curfew but bans rallies, allows arrest without a warrant, permits the president to call in the military to intervene and lets her take over facilities – including media outlets – that may affect national security.

The Philippine stock market and the peso both plunged after the emergency declaration.