Reds already in Metro — military

Communist guerrillas had infiltrated Metro Manila and were ready to support a foiled coup against President Arroyo, a military spokesman said yesterday.

However, the claim was dismissed by the communists.

Maj. Bartolome Baccaro said in a radio interview that infiltration was part of an alliance between communist insurgents and military rebels that prompted Mrs. Arroyo to declare a state of emergency last week. It was lifted on Friday.

"There was an understanding of these groups... they had a common objective of overthrowing President Gloria Arroyo," he said.

The communist New People’s Army (NPA) had infiltrated guerrillas into Metro Manila while rebel military forces would mount the coup.

"They were ready to move in support if needed. They wanted to escalate whatever happened in relation to the coup (attempt)," Baccaro said.

Interviewed on the same radio program, NPA spokesman Gregorio Rosal denied that there was an alliance between the military rebels and the communist insurgents, saying "the alliance of the military and the communists... is not true. There is no conspiracy. There is no coup plot."

He said the communists had not abandoned their principle of conducting a Maoist "protracted people’s war," and had not embraced the idea of seizing power through a coup.

Rosal also belittled the President’s lifting of the state of emergency, saying "it is a paper lifting because all the effects have not been removed."

Baccaro, however, said the Armed Forces had a recording on an earlier interview Rosal gave to another radio station "where he admitted they were making an effort to forge an alliance with the (military rebels) and that they had positive results."

"They are denying it now but before, they were saying they had such an alliance," he said. — AFP