Abenina tags FVR group in coup plot

Implicated in the murder of a controversial former military officer, retired Brig. Gen. Edgardo Abenina threatened yesterday to tell all about an alleged coup plot against the Arroyo administration, hatched purportedly by people close to former President Fidel Ramos.

Abenina, who was unseated recently as chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), also accused the Ramos camp of being the source of coup rumors that swept the country during the holidays.

In a telephone interview, Abenina vowed to identify on Monday people close to Ramos who are allegedly plotting the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo.

Reached by The STAR, Ramos smiled and said he would issue a formal statement today by the flagpole in front of Malacañang’s Kalayaan Hall.

Ramos will be at the Palace to attend the traditional New Year vin d’honneur this afternoon hosted by President Arroyo.

He is expected to make a categorical statement denying involvement in any attempt to destabilize the administration.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo rejected suggestions for her to conduct a loyalty check on the military and police top brass.

The loyalty check was proposed amid the coup rumors that heightened with the gunslaying of former Army Lt. Baron Cervantes, self-appointed spokesman for the military rightist group Young Officers’ Union (YOU) who blew the whistle on the alleged coup plot.

Abenina, one of the leaders of several failed power grabs against the administration of Corazon Aquino, belied reports that the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM), another military rightist group which he heads, was involved in the coup plot.

Abenina was booted out of the LTO for allegedly tolerating one of his aides, police Superintendent Rafael Cardeno, in openly criticizing the Arroyo leadership.

Cardeno, who was subsequently tagged as one of the coup plotters, was held for questioning at Camp Crame but denied any complicity in the plan.

During the interrogation, Cardeno reportedly revealed that Cervantes had hired a killer to do him in. Cardeno purportedly vowed that he would foil the murder plot against him.

"Kung akala niya mauunahan niya ako, nagkakamali siya (If he (Cervantes) thinks he could get me first, he is wrong)," sources quoted Cardeno as saying about Cervantes’ threat.

Cervantes was shot dead by a lone gunman at dusk on Dec. 31 along the Alabang-Zapote Road in Las Piñas City.

Investigators were looking into the possibility that the murder could be politically motivated.

Killer’s identity established

A source in the intelligence community hinted that they have established the identity of Cervantes’ killer, adding that the suspect is still active in the military service.

"We don’t have a solid evidence yet to pin the suspect down, but intelligence reports pointed to him as the assailant," the source said.

He said once the mastermind has been identified, the gunman would be picked up immediately.

"The killing was a result of a squabble between Cervantes and his colleagues at YOU," the source said although probers were not ruling out other possible motives.

YOU was composed mostly of junior officers from the military and the police services.

The investigators have also established that Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso was the last person Cervantes saw before he was killed.

The two men also traded text messages.

Cervantes’ cellular phone which was recovered by the investigators also showed that he sent a text message to military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan, asking for advice and assistance in controlling negative perceptions about him.

Rumors of a coup heightened over the past week in the aftermath of the murder of Cervantes who earlier divulged an alleged secret meeting in Puerto Azul resort in Ternate, Cavite by disgruntled military and police officials to plot the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo.

However, YOU leaders publicly disowned Cervantes, saying he was merely a discharged lieutenant, not a captain as he had introduced himself, and was never designated spokesman for their group.

YOU leaders and members involved in the coup attempts against Aquino gained absolute amnesty as part of a peace accord with the administration of Ramos who succeeded Aquino.

In shrugging off suggestions for her to conduct a loyalty check, on the military and the police, the President said they are "highly professional," adding there was no moral cause for them to go against the government.

Mrs. Arroyo also said security officials have been doing their job very well and have unmasked "specific individuals that are implicated in some of these adventurist activities." She did not elaborate.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier warned that coup plotters would be crushed.

ISAFP grills Miraflor on coup plot

Military intelligence agents have questioned Navy Lt. (Senior Grade) Anthony Don Miraflor, who was arrested earlier for alleged possession of a huge cache of explosives, was interrogated by military agents for possible complicity in the coup plot.

Documents obtained from the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) showed that he was asked on his motives for concealing more than 100 blocks of C-4 explosives instead of turning the materials over to his superior officer when his unit, the Special Reaction Unit (SRU), was disbanded last May.

The SRU, previously attached to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force headed by then Philippine National Police chief now Sen. Panfilo Lacson, was also under suspicion of involvement in destabilization efforts against the Arroyo administration.

The explosives, found hidden in the lockers of SRU members in the naval base in Sangley Point, Cavite.

Adan clarified, however, that the inquiry on Miraflor was purely administrative.

ISAFP investigators led by Lt. Col. Al Perreras questioned Miraflor regarding his meetings with Lacson’s people who were allegedly planning to launch destabilization activities against the government.

Miralfor reportedly admitted having met twice in November and December with former PAOCTF personnel, but claimed the meetings had nothing to do with destabilization efforts.

He also said he was unable to turnover the explosives to his superiors because he attended first to the surrender of SRU firearms after his unit was deactivated. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Paolo Romero