Malacañang vows to unmask people behind destab attempt

Manila, Philippines - Malacañang vowed yesterday to unmask those behind a supposed destabilization attempt, dramatized by a video recording of a Marine colonel calling for the ouster of President Aquino.

“We would look into what is true or what is lie among the reports that are coming out,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over dzRB.

She said they don’t have the full details of the alleged destabilization plot yet and that she has not seen the video, too.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama ordered Col. Generoso Mariano, deputy commander of the Naval Reserve Command, confined to his quarters and stripped of his post. Mariano is set to retire today, his 56th birthday.

A video footage making the rounds on Facebook showed a bespectacled middle-aged man wearing a blue shirt with an indistinct but military-style crest speaking to a microphone while seated behind a table.

“It is the duty, it is the right of every Filipino including soldiers to replace the government. I repeat, replace the government,” the man, who turned out to be Mariano, says in the 95-second footage, which was dated July 3, 2011.

“The government has no capability in addressing this problem and spare the people from hunger and subsequent death. The soldiers has not forgotten its duty to protect the people,” Mariano said.

The shared videos on Facebook come from the account of a group calling itself the “Oust Noynoy Movement!” Noynoy is Aquino’s nickname.

Linda Montayre, secretary-general of the People’s Consultative Assembly, has also reportedly been seeking the removal of Aquino.

Media people were recently alerted to a plan by a group of military officers and their men in Bicol to declare their withdrawal of support from the Aquino administration. No such incident happened.

Some media people who got hold of Mariano’s video and interviewed Montayre did not publish or air their stories.

Montayre had also figured in efforts to oust former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

There are speculations that she has formed an alliance with Arroyo who is now a Pampanga congresswoman and a subject of plunder cases.

What dissatisfaction?

The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shrugged off Mariano’s call.

“There is no dissatisfaction in the ranks,” AFP spokesman Commodore Miguel Jose Rodriguez said.

“We have never had this good. The commander-in-chief is in full control. The best welfare you can give the soldier is to equip him properly so he can do his job effectively,” Rodriguez said.

He said the AFP’s Capability Upgrade Program has gone on full swing under the Aquino administration. He also said AFP reforms are on track.

“Soldiers are paid well and provided houses,” Rodriguez said in Filipino.

Pama said there are no signs that Mariano enjoys the support of soldiers.

“There’s no indicator (of support). But it will be covered by an investigation. I have already ordered to determine his motive,” Pama said.

He said he has designated Brig. Gen. Eugenio Clement, deputy Marine commandant, to lead the investigation of Mariano in preparation for possible court martial proceedings.

“The tape showed him speaking out against the government,” Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said.

The footage, he said, appeared to show Mariano laying out scenarios when a President’s removal could be justified.

He also stressed that the President’s ouster had no support in the 120,000-strong Armed Forces.

“The possible offenses are conduct unbecoming of an officer and sedition,” he said. “Sedition is a grave offense.”

The military, which has been battling Muslim and communist insurgencies for decades, has been wracked by restiveness since late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in 1986. More than a dozen coup attempts since then have undermined civilian rule.

Aquino, the son of late democracy icon and former President Corazon Aquino, has kept his approval ratings high — between 60 percent and 70 percent. His landslide election victory last year is credited to his clean image, family legacy and a program to uplift the poor through a vigorous anti-corruption drive in the bureaucracy and greater budget allocations for social services. - With Jaime Laude, AP