‘Four groups in AFP can lead coup try’

Four well-organized groups within the military are looking for a political organization that will spearhead a coup to stop corruption and growing discontentment among the people, a former military rebel spokesman said yesterday.

Speaking at the Bulong-Pulungan forum at the Westin Philippine Plaza in Pasay City, retired Commodore Rex Robles, former spokesman for the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) that led the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, said the situation in the country is "very ripe" for a "military intervention."

"We are very ripe for military intervention," said Robles who was also a member of the Feliciano Commission that investigated the Oakwood military mutiny in 2003.

"It is feasible and workable for military intervention. I am not saying it is good, but it is there because the military rebels continue to grow in number and they are well-organized," he added.

Robles said the name of movie star Susan Roces, the widow of Fernando Poe Jr. who claimed to have been cheated by President Arroyo in the 2004 elections, is often mentioned in discussions among military rebels.

"I am not surprised her name is being discussed by the rebels," he said.

Robles said in 1986, the RAM led by the Army Col. Gregorio Honasan had engaged in coalition building with political groups to get their support for a military uprising to topple Marcos.

"This is something that is true today," he said. "That is a better channel. Money will not work if mass base is not developed. If the new rebels do not realize this, they are doomed to fail."

The military rebels made their pitch to the opposition led by Agapito "Butz" Aquino — now a congressman — in seeking support for a military revolt to overthrow the dictatorship, he added.

Robles said poverty, increased public sympathy for ousted President Joseph Estrada, and the call for reforms have significantly contributed to the growing clamor for change in government.

"My feeling is it (poverty) increases the need for change," he said. "We know Erap has a strong hold and this group will tend to increase resentment and will increase sympathy for the former president."

Robles said the President knows about the threat to the government, but claimed she is not getting the "right intelligence" because government intelligence agents cannot penetrate all the military cells.

"The government knows it is in danger," he said. "It just does not know the size and threat because of poor intelligence. The government cannot see the size and shape of it. The situation has reached a point where it has a life of its own."

Asked where the government of Mrs. Arroyo is headed, Robles said: "She should have better intelligence so she would know where she is going."

A broad spectrum of opposition groups have been calling for the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo, amid Malacañang’s vows to make urgent political and economic reforms.

The United States earlier said it would not support a violent, extra-legal overthrow of the government.

Former US Ambassador to Manila Francis Ricciardone said Washington is open to political changes in the country if carried out within the bounds of the Constitution.

Ricciardone warned that calls for destabilization would only weaken the country.

He declined to confirm a reported meeting with National Labor Relations Commission Chairman Roy Señeres, whom Mrs. Arroyo has accused of destabilizing her administration.