Palace explosion fuels coup talk; government downplays threat

A loud explosion rocked the Malacañang grounds at noon yesterday, fueling talk of a coup plot against President Arroyo, but Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said no coup would succeed.

Even as a shadowy military group claimed responsibility for the explosion, police nationwide were placed on full alert yesterday because of coup rumors and planned protests by anti-government groups seeking Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known and no one was reported hurt.

Manila policemen and presidential guards sealed off J. P. Laurel street, the main street leading to Malacañang, and the military brought in bomb-sniffing dogs.

Brig. Gen. Delfin Bangit, Presidential Security Group commander, said a suspicious object planted in a bag full of garden refuse had been recovered for examination.

He also speculated that paint thinner or some chemicals may have been ignited by a discarded cigarette thrown into a trash container.

"There are no indications that there were explosives based on the reaction of our bomb dogs," he said. "We are now suspecting some chemicals were in a trash can and there was an ignition through a lit cigarette."

Speaking from Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Cruz said no coup could oust Mrs. Arroyo because the plotters lacked the capability to launch an uprising.

"My assessment is that there is no capability," he said.

"That will not happen, those rumors about a coup d’état. That will not happen, plus the (coup) talk has died down."

Cruz said the military remains a professional organization that is insulated from politics.

"The Armed Forces of the Philippines knows well that it is important that they remain professional, that they insulate themselves from politics," he said.

Bangit said a suspicious device recovered from a black plastic bag will be examined.

"It has been taken for forensic examination to find out what caused the explosion, which happened outside the Palace TV center near the administration building," he said.

Bangit said he was not ruling out the possibility that "combustible chemicals like alcohol or some other compound" caused the explosion.

"But what we’re saying is, if we are thinking of a bomb, there are no indications that it is a bomb but I cannot say any more," he said. "We will just await the results of the investigation."

However, he noted that bomb-sniffing dogs failed to detect any explosives.

Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said Mrs. Arroyo called an emergency Cabinet meeting following the blast, but would leave the investigation to the police.

"I’m sure that this is part of the scare tactics being initiated by (people) who would like to destabilize and to bring down the government," he said.

Defensor said the tactic was "disheartening," especially while the country was focused on rescue efforts for some 1,400 people buried in a massive landslide in Southern Leyte.

Yesterday was business as usual for Mrs. Arroyo, Defensor noted, "but I’m sure as a person she’s worried about the situation."

A new shadowy military group has claimed responsibility for the explosion at the Palace grounds.

The YOUNG and the Reformist AFP (RAFP) said the explosion at Malacañang was the start of a series of "explosive" protest activities they planned to wage until Mrs. Arroyo steps down.

"The YOUNG and the Reformist AFP (RAF) have started today a series of explosive protest activities that will continue and even escalate until Gloria Arroyo departs from Malacañang Palace," the group said.

They called on Mrs. Arroyo’s Cabinet to resign or they would be the target of further "explosive" protests, which they warned will increase in degree in the coming days.

They also urged officers of the military and the police to withdraw their support from Mrs. Arroyo and unseat her.

Responding to the explosion, Metro Manila police commander Director Vidal Querol said the full alert status of police nationwide was meant to dissuade other groups from committing the same act.

On the other hand, Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga said military agents are "zeroing in on several personalities who are being contacted by those who are trying to destabilize (the government)."

"You have to verify, you have to investigate, you find out the facts so that you can determine the appropriate action," he said. Senga downplayed rumors of a plot to oust Mrs. Arroyo.

"The Magdalo has been making these calls, but our assessment is they have not been successful," he said, referring to the call of rebel military officers for the public to wear red arm bands and take to the streets to pressure Mrs. Arroyo to step down.

Witness

Meanwhile, Francisco Cariz, a street sweeper, was visibly shaken after hearing the explosion at Malacañang grounds from several meters away.

Cariz told reporters he had filled a black garbage bag that he found near the trees with dry leaves, and was preparing to place it in a trash bin.

After a few steps, he heard a loud explosion.

"It was very loud," he said, adding he did not notice anything unusual about the garbage bag.

Cariz was pulled away from reporters by presidential guards who were securing the blast site.

Just a few minutes after the explosion, a fire truck and scores of rifle-toting PSG troops rushed to the scene, along with the bomb squad and K-9 units, and drew a perimeter around the blast site and combed the area for evidence.

Reporters working at the Press Working Area at the Kalayaan Hall, about a hundred meters away, heard the blast and felt a slight tremor in the office.

Some of the journalists about to enter the Palace to cover Mrs. Arroyo’s hosting of a thanksgiving lunch for Intellectual Property Rights Office officials rushed to the scene. — With reports from Jaime Laude, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Nestor Etolle, AP, AFP