Erap would have been reinstated –for 3 days

The Makati mutineers had fancied themselves as the "new Filipino heroes" out to wage "the last revolution ... towards a new Philippine order." They called themselves the Magdalo, after Emilio Aguinaldo’s Katipunan faction that drove the Spaniards out of Cavite before Independence in 1898. Upon taking power, they were to implement a National Recovery Program (NRP) for "moral and cultural change to free the country from greed, graft, oppression, ignorance and helplessness."

They consisted mainly of AFP junior officers from the Philippine Military Class of ’95-98. They were the ideal recruits for such a power grab. They are young idealists who had legitimate grievances against the high command that could be exploited into messianic roles as leaders of reform. More important for a coup d’etat, they are highly-trained in urban warfare, have a network of PMA mistahs (classmates), and were in direct charge of AFP field units.

Investigators already have unearthed evidence of huge funding for what should have been last weekend’s coup that, when discovered, fizzled into a holdout at Makati’s Oakwood luxury apartment. The money could only have come from outside political forces. The 296 mutineers, including 70 officers, had 500 brand-new radio tranceivers (P10,000-P12,000 apiece) that were not military issue. They came with several expensive radio base equipment, Motorola and Icom brands (P30,000 apiece), that regular AFP units can ill afford. They had classy Camelback backpacks (P2,000). The core leaders had 10 satellite phones P45,000). Even the NRP Movement banners and armbands confiscated in a raid in the three-door apartment in Mandaluyong of detained former President Joseph Estrada and mistress Laarni Enriquez was of expensive material.

Weeks before the coup, AFP intelligence units already had gathered other materials from coup recruits who just couldn’t bring themselves to play along with the plot. Among these, turned over to superiors, was a pamphlet entitled "The Last Revolution-Toward a New Philippine Order." Pseudonymously authored by "the New Filipino Heroes," it begins with a historic discussion of revolutions and coup attempts by the Reform-the-AFP Movement (RAM) in 1986-1989. It outlines an eight-point vision of the New Order: "(1) lasting peace and prosperity; (2) free, educated and responsible Filipino citizenry bound together bound together by a National Identity regardless of religion, culture, social status and ideology; (3) sovereignty and territorial integrity; (4) truly truly democratic government founded on equality and social justice, founded on an electoral process that reflects the true will of an informed people; (5) governance guided by social equity; (6) efficient, professional bureaucracy of honest, humble, competent and hard-working public servants; (7) public policy-making defined solely by National Interest; (8) National Interest centered solely on public welfare."

It then binds the "patriot recruit" to those motherhood statements with eight "heroic" pledges: "(1) I am willing to lay down my life in the pursuit of the Vision; (2) I will be loyal always to National Interest; (3) I am willing to be a catalyst of change of an oppressive, unjust society into one that advocates equality and social justice; (4) I will respect human rights; (5) I will not commit any acts of corruption; (6) I will live a modest life commensurate to my legal means; (7) I am willing to be punished should I betray any decree of this oath; (8) I am doing this supreme act of sacrifice for God, Country and People with no promise of reward, compensation or recognition."

Former RAM and late ’80s coup participants readily recognized the language of the credo. "It sounds like Sir Gringo," two AFP officers chorused while recalling how then-Col. Gregorio Honasan had fooled them into joining first the plot to bring down Ferdinand Marcos and then the first two of eight coup attempts against Cory Aquino. The recruitment back then was similarly designed to make them think they were "the Chosen People destined to lead the country to greatest glories."

The Magdalo even had a secret "Oath of the New Filipino Hero," that spells out the eight pledges, to be signed with blood.

The first phase of The Last Revolution naturally "starts with the assumption of power." Thus, last weekend’s adventure.

They patterned it after Portugal’s Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, during which young military officers simply withdrew from fighting in the colonies and, with only a few gunshots and one fatality, brought down the 47-year fascist rule. They had visions of people dancing in the streets, just like the Portuguese people did that spring day when they stuck fresh red carnation blooms into the rifle barrels of the soldiers.

The Carnation Revolution coincided with wide disenchantment with the old order. Last weekend’s mutineers calculated that Filipinos would rise to support them.

That was not to be. The only civilian support they had was from four dozen members of Honasan’s Guardians Brotherhood, who tried to march to Makati waving banners of the NRP Movement, but were dispersed by the police before daybreak. And from a slightly bigger group of Estrada loyalists from the People’s Movement Against Poverty, led by Ronald Lumbao and the former president’s agrarian reform secretary Horacio Morales. They, too, were dispersed by the rain.

Intelligence agencies first anticipated the coup attempt last July 12. That was the day designated by the plotters during a meeting on the night of June 12, Independence Day.

Part of the plot was to free Estrada from detention at the Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City. He was to be reinstalled as President – but only for three days. After which, he would be forced to resign so that the real political leaders, not the mere financiers, would take over.

And that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

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