Philippine Officials Charge 16 With Bid to Assassinate Leaders

Leaders of an attempted coup planned to assassinate President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other top officials before the plot was broken up and the country placed under a state of emergency, military officials said Monday.

Prosecutors filed rebellion charges against 16 military officers, members of Congress and other political figures, including a hero of the “people’s power” protest that ousted President Ferdinand Marcos 20 years ago. Most of them remain at large.

Opposition groups went to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the state of emergency, which Arroyo declared Friday, arguing that it was a pretext for the president to crack down on political opponents and media critics. They argued that she had not presented evidence of an attempt to overthrow her government.

“I don’t think there is a clear and present danger at this time in the country,” said attorney Jose Anselmo Cruz, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the national lawyers association. “What the president did was to declare an opinion of hers that there is a state of national emergency. Where’s the invasion? Where’s the rebellion?”

The alleged assassination plot included plans to kill the president when she was scheduled to appear at the Philippine Military Academy in February or March, said Col. Tristan Kison, an armed forces spokesman.

Authorities said they uncovered a computer memory card with a list of targets, whose names were in code. On the assassination list were members of Arroyo’s Cabinet and prominent civilians, officials said. The memory card listed three goals: Oust the president, establish a transitional government and change the political system.

Kison said the armed forces also had obtained evidence that the attempt to overthrow Arroyo was a conspiracy between rogue officers and communist rebels. The government filed charges against 51 communists and leftists for allegedly attempting to overthrow Arroyo.

Supporters of the accused said they had nothing to do with the plot and were singled out because they were longtime foes of Arroyo. An alliance between military officers and communists seems unlikely to many. The military has been fighting a low-level war for years with the Communist New People’s Army, and the allegation of communist involvement could be used to undermine support for a plot.

Arroyo went on television to shore up support for her administration by promising pay increases and other benefits to soldiers, police, teachers and government workers. She mentioned the alleged plot only in passing, saying, “We will work triply hard to ensure our momentum and minimize the economic fallout of events like the coup.”

Arroyo, who was caught on tape telling an election official to make sure she won the 2004 presidential election by a million votes, has hung on to power despite impeachment attempts and calls for her resignation. Many of her Cabinet ministers and allies have turned against her, including former President Corazon Aquino.

The government has warned that media outlets perceived to be aiding rebels could be shut down or taken over under the emergency proclamation. The threat has alarmed many journalists, who see it as an attempt to minimize coverage critical of the president.

National police spokesman Senior Supt. Samuel Pagdilao said Monday that police had taken over the facility of the Daily Tribune, a small paper that has been a harsh critic of Arroyo, but not the paper’s news operation.

“The Tribune has been evaluated for its past actions and we believe it has been and is committing seditious acts,” Pagdilao said. “All the material of the Tribune has been inciting people, inflaming people to bring down the government.”

Within the military, sentiment against Arroyo runs high. For months, disgruntled current and former military officers have been plotting to oust Arroyo and replace her temporarily with a committee of civilians and military officers. Leaders of the rebel group argue that corruption is so pervasive that the country needs to clean house and reorganize the government.

The 16 people charged Monday with conspiring to overthrow the government included five members of Congress and former Sen. Gregorio Honasan, commonly known as Gringo and believed to be the leader of the rebel group.

In 1986, Honasan, who was then a colonel, helped unite the military and civilians against Marcos by bringing troops to the aid of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, who had withdrawn his support from the president and was holed up at a military camp in Manila.

Honasan’s move helped trigger the “people’s power” protest that brought down Marcos. Honasan later led several unsuccessful coup attempts against Aquino, Marcos’ successor, and was imprisoned for several months.

An apparent attempt to spark a similar revolution fizzled Sunday at Ft. Bonifacio, the marines’ national headquarters, after the commanding general abruptly resigned.

His subordinate, Col. Ariel Querubin, alleged that the general had been forced out and called during a live TV interview for civilians to come and protect the marines. Only about 100 people arrived before police sealed off the base. Officers negotiated an end to the standoff and no one was arrested.