Siege of mall deals blow to Philippines

Siege of mall deals blow to Philippines

What started as a festering but family feud between junior
Philippines military officers and President Gloria Arroyo flew
viciously out of control early yesterday morning. Around 200
soldiers and sailors took over the biggest, upscale mall in the
heart of the Manila financial district.

They said they wanted to discuss grievances, but to the
president and the world it looked like a coup attempt.

One would have thought that the Philippines had had enough of
such behavior. The military remains an important institution.
Officers backed the popular movement that ousted the country's
last elected president, Joseph Estrada, in favor of Arroyo. This
makes the weekend siege of the Ayala complex in Makati all the
more unacceptable.

It will take days or weeks to sort out just what happened in
the lead-up to the violence. Arroyo knew many junior officers
were upset with endemic corruption and allegedly incompetent
generals at the top of some units. Indeed, many of the mutineers
were "the best and brightest" of the Philippines military.

Many had recently received special anti-terrorist training and
seemed marked for future promotion and leadership. President
Arroyo had dinner with many of them only on Wednesday, supposedly
to hear many of their complaints.

The fact is that the military action deeply undermines the
Philippines, as well as Arroyo's regime.

The Philippines is already under criticism for allowing --
somehow -- the escape from prison of a senior Jamaah Islamiyah
agent and two Abu Sayyaf friends. This rebellion by young
officers, many of them decorated in the southern war against Abu
Sayyaf, will not help and probably will hurt the regional effort
against violent extremists.

-- Bangkok Post