Honasan: From hero to public enemy

Blessed with rugged good looks and burning zeal, Gregorio Honasan rallied idealistic fellow young military officers to the cause of ridding the Philippines of a dictator a generation ago.

But though revered for his role in the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos, Honasan later led a series of deadly and doomed coup attempts against former President Corazon Aquino that plunged the Philippines into turmoil.

Now, 17 years after receiving a Distinguished Conduct Star medal for his part in the "people power" revolt against Marcos, Honasan is a fugitive once again accused of masterminding a failed coup against President Arroyo.

When hundreds of soldiers seized the Makati financial district on July 27 – a replay of a December 1989 rebellion led by Honasan – it was part of a plot to install a 15-member junta in Arroyo’s place, the military has alleged.

"They intended to install Kuya (Big Brother), somebody with the code name Kuya, as head of state," vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said Monday. "Kuya referred to Senator Gregorio Honasan."

Why a big-name politician like Honasan, a declared candidate in the May 2004 presidential election, would want to gain power through a coup, is a mystery.

How he allegedly swayed junior officers to join his cause, supposedly after the institution had been reformed from its repeated bouts with adventurism between 1986 and 1990, is a troubling poser for Arroyo.

"I would like to think now that there is a "Gringo" myth in the military, a human Excalibur enticing the young, the idealists, the dreamers to high adventure," Teodoro Benigno, a former member of the Aquino cabinet, wrote in The STAR.

"And whatever the high command of the (armed forces) does, they can never extinguish this myth," Benigno wrote.

Shortly before he went into hiding, Honasan showed up on the Senate floor to reject allegations he was behind the failed rebellion.

"I have a diploma ... to show that I have already been rehabilitated," he said, referring to a 1995 political settlement between the Fidel Ramos government and military putschists led by Honasan, who had been briefly detained on a prison ship in the 1980s.

But he also denounced the government’s alleged failure to address the grievances of ordinary soldiers such as low pay and alleged top-level corruption. The old issues still "resonate" within the rebel ranks and "only the personnel have changed."

The son of a mid-level military officer, Honasan was the class commander when he graduated at the Philippine Military Academy in 1971.

The young officer earned his combat spurs in the campaign against Muslim separatist guerrillas in the south.

He later served as aide and security chief for opposition politician Juan Ponce Enrile, who helped usher him toward a career in politics.

Elected to the Senate in 1995, Honasan has championed military reforms, industrialization, and good government in his legislative agenda.

The military alleges last month’s mutineers would have implemented Honasan’s "National Recovery Program" political platform after seizing power.

Mrs. Arroyo and congressional leaders have urged Honasan to surface and answer a rebellion complaint filed against him by the interior department, assuring him of fair treatment. – AFP