Independence Day plot to topple government foiled

Security forces have foiled a plot by supporters of former President Joseph Estrada and leftist groups to topple the Arroyo administration, according to a police source.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The STAR that the plan was supposed to be carried out during the Independence Day celebrations.

"We have decisively beaten them," the source said.

The plotters planned to take advantage of massive protests over allegations that President Arroyo’s family took bribes from illegal gambling barons and that she rigged last year’s presidential election to rob her closest contender, movie icon Fernando Poe Jr., of victory.

However, the purported plot fizzled because the protests failed to materialize. "It’s all over. We expect them to regroup and be back in the streets months from now," the source said.

He gave no other details.

But Director Vidal Querol, Metro Manila police chief, said he was not aware of any move to bring down the government.

"What we were aware of was the series of protest marches the supporters of the former president and left-leaning groups staged, which we were able to handle effectively," Querol said.

At least 6,000 police officers and troops were deployed across Metro Manila in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations amid reports that planned anti-government protests would seek to exploit calls for the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo.

But on Sunday, there were no large anti-government rallies staged.

A handful of Estrada supporters and militant groups showed up near the Roman Catholic church seminary in Guadalupe, Makati City, where former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong sought sanctuary after claiming he had obtained a tape of wiretapped conversations between Mrs. Arroyo and an election official about rigging last year’s presidential election.

Ong had moved last Monday to an undisclosed location after being told to leave San Carlos seminary by the church for breaking a rule that banned guests from granting media interviews.

Poe supporter Linggoy Alcuaz said they would "mobilize" if Ong’s security was threatened.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said his department would consider filing charges against Ong of inciting to sedition and violation of the anti-wiretapping law.

Armed forces chief Gen. Efren Abu had earlier warned that forces were trying to recruit elements of the military to move against the government of Mrs. Arroyo, who had come under fire for signing into law tax measures designed to alleviate a fiscal crisis.

Malacañang had also warned of attempts to destabilize the Arroyo administration after jueteng accusations arose members of Mrs. Arroyo’s family, and a recording surfaced purportedly linking the President to election fraud in 2004.

Mrs. Arroyo won by a narrow margin over Poe, her closest rival and the anointed bet of Estrada. Poe contested the result but the Supreme Court junked his electoral protest shortly after he died of a stroke in December.

After two popular revolts and at least a dozen coup attempts in the last 19 years, the army and police routinely move to alert status whenever events likely to attract large crowds are held. — With Michael Punongbayan