More troops arrested, senator blamed for RP 'coup'
More troops arrested, senator blamed for RP 'coup'
Agence France-Presse, Manila
The Philippine government launched criminal action on Monday against an opposition senator linked to an alleged coup attempt against President Gloria Arroyo, as more soldiers were arrested over the failed rebellion.
Arroyo's government on Monday filed a criminal complaint against Gregorio Honasan, accusing the opposition senator of leading an alleged coup attempt against her.
Interior Secretary Jose Lina lodged the complaint before the Justice Department against Honasan and six others belonging to a civilian group that had allegedly helped rogue soldiers carry out the July 27 mutiny at the Makati financial district.
Under the Philippine justice system, state prosecutors determine whether there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges in court.
"Definitely, he is one of the leaders. There are other politicians and some other financiers whom we are gathering evidence against," Lina said of Honasan, a former army colonel who led several coup attempts in the 1980s.
Honasan, who was pardoned in 1995, was the first senior political figure publicly implicated by the government in the coup attempt. He denies the allegation.
The government last week also arrested Ramon Cardenas, a member of the cabinet of deposed Filipino leader Joseph Estrada, for his alleged role in the coup.
The complaint included a deposition by a military intelligence officer, Major Perfecto Ragil, who alleged that he met with Honasan and the other plotters at a suburban Manila house on June 4 where the senator allegedly discussed the power grab.
"The discussion concluded that we must use force, violence and armed struggle to achieve the vision" of Honasan's political platform, called the National Recovery Program, the sworn statement said.
Ragil alleged that Honasan vowed that "colleagues who would be traitors" to the cause would be killed.
The senator also presided over a bizarre ceremony wherein he and the other conspirators cut themselves with a knife and then used their own blood to imprint their thumbmarks on documents and flags used by the group, Ragil said.
In a telephone interview on Monday Honasan, who has not been seen in public for a week, told reporters: "I was never in any secret meeting where there was a blood compact where the plot to launch the Makati incident took place. I categorically deny that."
The military said on Monday nearly three dozen more officers and men had been arrested in connection with the mutiny, raising the total in detention to 348. Two other officers and five enlisted men remain at large.
Armed forces chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya said that while most of the known conspirators had been arrested, he could not guarantee those still at large would not attempt another rebellion.
"There are no overt acts right now on their part, but again we are still checking to determine whether silence means something else," he said.