Lacson: There’s an ongoing power grab

Controversial Sen. Panfilo Lacson claimed yesterday that there is an ongoing power grab attempt by a coalition of leftists and other organizations.

"At first I was the principal target. Now I have become an incidental target, with the main objective being the overthrow of Gloria," Lacson said, referring to President Arroyo.

During the first hearing of a joint Senate committee on the allegations of Col. Victor Corpus, head of the Intelligence Service-Armed Forces of the Philippines, against Lacson, Corpus and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes admitted that there was a move to launch a coup against Mrs. Arroyo.

At the same time, however, Reyes said the move would not succeed and the military would not support any move to unseat the President.

Lacson contended that the coup movement is still alive, saying his group has monitored the increasing activities of leftists and other groups to try to convince the military to launch a coup.

"I do not know how the military is reacting," he said.

In a related development, Sen. Gregorio Honasan urged unnamed groups yesterday to abandon their reported plan to install a military-civilian junta through a coup and destroy the integrity and credibility of democratic institutions like the Senate and the judiciary.

He also called on his former comrades in the mi-litary and the Philippine National Police to remain apolitical amid the ongoing power struggle among those that supported the present administration.

"The military and the police should not allow themselves to be used by some groups out to grab power once again. Their allegiance is to the Constitution and to the people who entrusted them their lives," said Honasan, a leader of numerous coup attempts against the Aquino administration.

He also warned the groups plotting to topple the government to advance their personal and business interests, saying they should not try the patience of the masses.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. asked Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, the Armed Forces chief, to secure civilians and the government against any military coup or so-called "disturbances" in the military.

Magsaysay, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, made the appeal after AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan warned that there might be "disturbances" in the armed forces as a result of controversies alleging military connivance with the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

Magsaysay said the AFP should welcome the investigation of the alleged connivance "in pursuit of transparency and the possibility that some elements of the military could have committed gross negligence and lack of results in addressing internal security matters."

He stressed that the investigations by the House and the Senate are never aimed at destroying the AFP as an institution.

"On the other hand, the investigations seek to strengthen and fortify the armed forces by combating unworthy elements wanting to disparage the entire institution," Magsaysay added. – Efren Danao