EDITORIAL - Coup jitters

Some media heralded it, opposition, military and police officials are denying it, the presidential spokesman says it won’t happen within the next decade. So why do rumors of a looming coup attempt fester?

For starters, Palace officials should speak with one voice when handling the issue. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez got the rumor mill churning after disclosing the creation of a so-called Urban Poor Liberation Front, purportedly composed of supporters of deposed President Joseph Estrada who want him reinstalled in power. On the other hand, President Arroyo’s spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said a coup attempt was unlikely within the next 10 years. Fortunately, the President’s hastily-called meeting at Malacañang with leaders of the Young Officers Union, rumored coup plotters, showed they were at her beck and call. So, what gives?

Thanks to coup jitters, the peso fell to 52 to the dollar. The economic impact of coup-related political instability has prompted at least one senator to propose that rumormongering about coup plots be classified as treason deserving capital punishment. The opposition Laban ng Demokra-trikong Pilipino has a more sensible proposal: A multiparty covenant that will bind all political parties to a stand against coup attempts and other extraconstitutional paths to power. Will they also make a stand against spreading rumors about a brewing coup?

One opposition senator voiced suspicions that Malacañang itself was fanning the coup rumors to divert attention from First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. Preposterous, yet some anxious people would believe it given the temper of the times. Elvis, alive? Where? Frankly, we need these rumors like we need anthrax in the mail. If there truly is a coup being hatched, government and security officials must nip it in the bud. No need to announce the coup plot to the public – if the government’s effort fails, the citizenry will know about it soon enough.

It’s impossible to stop rumor-mongering, but its effects are far from harmless. Talk is cheap, but it managed to bring down the peso last week. With a sputtering economy and security threats, the nation has enough problems without having to worry about coup attempts, real or imagined.