There are whispers, allegations and denials of a possible coup among the Philippine military against troubled president and slimy invertebrate Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The Philippine military said on Monday it had begun an investigation to unmask soldiers who may be involved in a plot to unseat President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but senior commanders sought to play down the threat.
The armed forces, undermined by corruption and lack of funds, have spawned at least a dozen coup attempts since dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted by a “people power” uprising in 1986.
Arroyo, who survived the desertion of allies and an attempt by her political foes to impeach her last year over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, had put down a brief mutiny by 300 young officers in July 2003.
“I think we can say there’s a threat,” General Generoso Senga, the armed forces chief, told a news conference, flanked by the commanders of the army, navy and air force.
“There were indications of some intentions but these were different from their capabilities,” he added, dismissing the threats as “not serious enough”.
Senga declined to elaborate on any specific plots the military had uncovered, appealing to politicians not to drag the troops into their power struggles.
“We have a mission to do, secure our country and police against different armed and terrorist threats,” he said at the main military camp in Manila, admitting that they were distracted by the political crisis.
Last Friday, Raul Gonzales, the justice secretary, said the government had learned of a plot by Arroyo’s opponents to seize power that day, the fifth anniversary of her rise to power after a “people power” uprising ousted predecessor Joseph Estrada.
There may indeed be little or nothing to the current rumors. Still, unless there is a major change in the Philippine political landscape, one could reasonably think that a coup would be an eventuality, especially given the recent history of the nation and Arroyo’s troubled presidency.
Should a successful coup occur, there is no way to predict the nature of the government that would emerge to fill the void. Nevertheless, I would not shed a tear at the departure of Arroyo. We are talking about a woman who politically survived a morass of corruption, in part because of a willingness to exile her own husband. More disgusting than the corruption, however, is Arroyo’s pathetic willingness to undermine our efforts in Iraq by paying terrorists $6 million and withdrawing Philippine troops from the Iraqi theater, all for the ransom of one truck driver.
Corrupt and willing to finance and cower to terrorists — no, I won’t shed a tear when Arroyo is gone. Rather, that’ll be a fine day to burst forth in an enthusiastic, if awkward, Happy Dance.