Sunday, February 26, 2006

Documents planted?

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=1&story_id=67606

Alliance between Reds, disgruntled troops confirmed-military
First posted 03:57pm (Mla time) Feb 26, 2006
By Joel Francis Guinto
INQ7.net

THE MILITARY says it has confirmed that an alliance exists between disgruntled soldiers and leftist rebels based on documents seized from arrested mutiny leader First Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan.

"In the document, we can come up with the conclusion that there is a tie-up… This means that the left and the right have joined hands to bring down government," military spokesman Colonel Tristan Kison told a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo on Sunday.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited the alleged alliance between the extreme left and the right when she declared a state of national emergency last Friday, saying it posed a "clear and present danger" to the government.

Earlier that same day, the military said it had foiled a plot to unseat Arroyo by pressuring Armed Forces Chief General Generoso Senga to join street protests and withdraw support from her.

Kison said the document "confirmed the alliance" between the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the Makabayang Kawal Pilipino (Nationalistic Filipino Soldier-MKP), an alleged group of mutinous soldiers.

He said the document also proved that the CPP and the MKP were working with the "Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan," which he described as a "conglomeration of non-government organizations and different personalities."

In the last portion of the document, Kison said there was mention of a plan to "bring people and forces to EDSA."

Kison said military intelligence was still determining if soldiers that would have joined the street protests last Friday were armed.

After foiling the alleged plot to oust Arroyo, Senga restrained Army Brigadier General Danilo Lim for allegedly trying to convince him to join the crowds at EDSA. Marine Colonel Ariel Querubin was also ordered investigated over similar allegations.

When pressed by reporters, Kison said the documents seized from San Juan, when he was arrested at a police checkpoint in Padre Garcia town, Batangas province were "not planted."

"These are documents taken by our operatives. These were documents taken during the arrest," he said.

San Juan escaped from Fort Bonifacio last January 17 with three other Army officers who joined the 2003 Oakwood mutiny-- Captain Nathaniel Rabonza and First Lieutenants Sonny Sarmiento and Patricio Bumidang Jr.

One of the ringleaders of the short-lived uprising, Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, was arrested on January 27, 44 days after he escaped.

No comments: