RP says threat not over, checks troop movements

RP says threat not over, checks troop movements

Agencies, Manila

Hundreds of police commandos moved to a base in Manila on Friday as Philippine security officials said they were checking reports of unauthorized troop movements after last weekend's uprising by renegade soldiers.

Police set up roadblocks on major roads leading into the capital of 12 million people and put helicopters in the air. The presidential palace and police nationwide were on high alert.

The heightened security came as the Department of Justice filed coup charges against 321 elite soldiers now in custody over the siege at the Oakwood hotel in central Manila on July 27.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo insists a plot to supplant her government -- which Interior Secretary Jose Lina said may have included plans to kill her -- is being contained.

But military commanders warned that the situation remained volatile after the ninth army uprising in 17 years.

"The threat coming from unaccounted conspirators cannot be underestimated," Armed Forces Chief of Staff Narciso Abaya told a Senate defense committee probing the uprising.

Arroyo, elevated from vice president early in 2001 during an army-backed popular revolt that ousted President Joseph Estrada, has pledged not to run in elections due by May 2004. But she has many enemies who would like to ensure she cannot reverse course.

Lina told the Senate defense committee there was a "civilian component to this coup d'etat" and that investigators were preparing charges against Gregorio Honasan, an opposition senator and former army colonel involved in coup plots in the 1980s.

State prosecutors have filed rebellion charges against Ramon Cardenas, a member of Estrada's cabinet, accusing him of promoting the uprising after police said they had found weapons and red armbands used by the mutineers at a house he owns.

Estrada on Friday praised last weekend's failed military mutiny, saying he admires the young officers for standing up for their cause, but he denied any involvement in the plot.

Estrada, who is on trial on plunder charges, also denied knowing or having met any of the rebel solders, including their detained spokesman, Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes.

"But I admire him. I admire Capt. Trillanes because of his cause," Estrada told DZBB radio.

"We have set up checkpoints to monitor any troop movements," said one police general who asked not to be identified.

Armed forces spokesman Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said "only a few" troops were unaccounted for and that commanders had held meetings "to knock sense into the heads of these officers who may be contemplating joining the Oakwood people".

But a security risk analyst with close ties to both military and police told Reuters that commanders were monitoring movements of as many as 1,500 troops -- including two battalions of elite Scout Rangers, one Special Forces battalion and 250 Marines.

"There doesn't seem to be any intelligence saying that this is an authorized move," said the analyst, who asked not to be named. "There's something amiss with troop movements."

The military intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, quit earlier this week, warning of "deep restiveness" in the 113,000-strong armed forces.