Army Capt. Dante Langkit, a psychological warfare specialist, was presented to the media yesterday after he was arrested by military agents at a fast-food restaurant in Quezon City over the weekend.
"Langkit was supposed to lead forces that would attack and take over the Philippine Army headquarters," Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon told the news conference.
Esperon said Langkit had planned to lead the assault at Fort Bonifacio as part of "Oplan Gemstone," a separate coup plot to bring down the government and Mrs. Arroyo.
The plans were apparently in addition to the "Oplan Hackle" coup plot that led the President to declare a state of national emergency on Feb. 24.
Esperon said Langkit played a supporting role in the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny that was led by his classmate in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1995, detained Navy Ltsg. Antonio Trillanes IV.
Langkit was initially named in a master list of supporters of the Magdalo faction of officers which seized the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center in Makati City’s central business district at the height of the one-day mutiny on July 27, 2003.
He was later cleared of the accusations and was subsequently assigned as operations officer of the Army’s elite Special Operations Command based at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
Esperon presented Langkit in handcuffs to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Generoso Senga during the news conference.
As cameras flashed, Senga stood and faced Langkit, telling him, "You’ll undergo our due process." Langkit blankly nodded.
Army intelligence agents arrested Langkit while he was inside a fast-food restaurant on Banawe street around lunchtime last Sunday.
The military said Langkit was waiting for his contact to appear when he was arrested.
"We assumed that he would be meeting somebody," Esperon said.
Upon his arrest, Langkit yielded P81,000 in cash, nine cellular phones, prepaid cell cards and a computer flash disk supposedly containing seditious documents.
Officials said they are now decoding the confiscated cell phones seized from Langkit, who is now under custody of the Army Intelligence Service Group.
"From these cell phones, we hope to discover a good number of his contacts, civilians or active," a military investigator said.
Esperon added Langkit had initiated a meeting with communist rebels during which the guerrillas offered to assist in the planned attacks on Fort Bonifacio as a sign of support for disgruntled troops.
Langkit went AWOL (absent without official leave) in January this year after four other Magdalo junior officers Capt. Lawrence San Juan, Lts. Patricio Bumidang, Sonny Sarmiento, Nathaniel Rabonza, bolted from their Army detention cell at Fort Bonifacio. San Juan was later recaptured by the military in Batangas last February.
While AWOL, Langkit continued inciting junior officers and meeting with "several officers he had recruited and giving instructions of organizing forces for what he alleged was the impending D-day," Esperon said.
"The apprehension of Langkit means a lot," the Army chief said.
Esperon said Langkit was monitored to have been in constant contact with the same junior officers he had recruited.
"For his recruited officers, Langkit presented the plan and organization for Oplan Gemstone. Under Oplan Gemstone, Langkit was supposed to lead forces that would attack and take over headquarters of the Philippine Army," Esperon explained.
Malacañang said Langkit’s arrest would now allow the country to "move faster to normalcy" amid efforts to purge the ranks of the military of suspected coup plotters.
In a news conference, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the arrest of Langkit further weakened the chances of the coup plotters to overthrow the government after their plans were first discovered last February.
"We feel that it is significant that Capt. Langkit has been arrested and this indicates that authorities continue to monitor their activities so they cannot implement the plans we have uncovered before," Ermita said.
He said Langkit’s arrest bolstered suspicions that the coup plot was hatched by extreme forces with the support of some opposition politicians and businessmen.
Ermita said Langkit was "a significant personality" of the Magdalo group and acted as its "operations officer" on "behalf of those people who want to continue destabilization."
Nearly 100 soldiers have been investigated in connection with the coup plot, which President Arroyo said was backed by communist guerrillas and civilian financiers.
Langkit was arrested after granting a television interview last week in which he claimed a wider restiveness in the military after the relief and detention of Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, former commander of the Army’s elite First Scout Ranger Regiment.
"Mahilig silang magpa-interview (They are fond of giving TV interviews)," Esperon said.
He said several officers who were allegedly recruited in the planned attack even provided information leading to the capture of Langkit.
At one point, Langkit even tried to persuade an Army company commander based in Central Luzon to join him in the planned attack on Fort Bonifacio.
"He (Langkit) was reported to us by two of our officers he approached," Esperon said.
Langkit apparently concentrated his recruitment activities on the officers’ ranks, he said.
In a parallel role for the Magdalo group, Langkit became a full-time member of "Para Sa Bayan" (PSB).
Langkit reportedly initiated the meeting with ranking New People’s Army (NPA) commanders in San Fernando, Pampanga.
The meeting took place sometime in September 2003, Esperon claimed.
In the same meeting the communist representatives had proposed to Langkit that the NPA lead attacks on Army detachments.
In those meetings, Esperon added Langkit was trying to revitalize the Magdalo group and turn it into Makabayang Kawal Pilipino (MKP), now reportedly headed by fugitive former senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan.
But Langkit failed to fulfill his end of the bargain to recruit officers to their side.
"During the formative period of the MKP, starting in 2003 Capt. Langkit played a major role in the recruitment activities and in planning destabilization against the government," Esperon said.
Following the escape of San Juan early this year, Langkit’s hold on MKP started to wane as the group began to ease him out.
Langkit reportedly became disillusioned and was actively involved in PSB, a separate group reportedly headed by Lim.
Last year, Langkit led a group of PSB representatives in a meeting with MKP leaders at a hotel in Manila.
Esperon said the meeting focused on forging a possible tactical alliance with the MKP.
The meeting was apparently in preparation for a possible takeover of the government.
The plan, however, was scuttled after Lim was arrested during the failed Feb. 24 coup plot that triggered the declaration of the national state of emergency.
Honasan also went into hiding after a warrant for his arrest on coup d’état charges was issued.
Lim and Marine Col. Ariel Querubin are presently detained and awaiting military trial as their cases are now being reviewed by the AFP fact-finding board.
Lim has been recommended for a military trial by Esperon for his role in the failed coup while Querubin is under investigation for leading the standoff at Marines headquarters on Feb. 26. — With Paolo Romero, AP, AFP