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