Reyes staying on… for now

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes also asked President Arroyo if she wanted him to quit, but she told him to stay on.

Reyes disclosed this in ANC television’s "Strictly Politics" talk show Tuesday night hosted by Pia Hontiveros.

At Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said "it’s the President’s wish, at least for the time being, that Secretary Reyes stay in his post."

"As you know, we Cabinet officials are serving at the pleasure of the President. There is no need for us to go on leave or tender any resignation. The moment the President feels that we have to go, then we will go," he said.

In the wake of accusations hurled against him by mutinous soldiers last Sunday, Reyes said he asked the President if she wanted him to quit.

"I said, ‘Ma’am, I can go any time. Do you want me to get out of this job? Do you want me to resign?’ She said, ‘No, you stay,’" he recounted his conversation with the President. "The moment I feel I am a baggage for the President I am out of here."

Reyes was urged by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel to take a leave of absence following accusations from mutinous soldiers that he and a military official masterminded the recent series of bombings in Davao City.

A panel formed by President Arroyo will look into the allegations.

"I told him that if he refuses to resign, he should at least take a leave of absence while the investigation into the soldiers’ complaints is ongoing to prevent him from influencing the inquiry or tampering with evidence," Pimentel said.

Pimentel said he made the suggestion when he and Reyes both appeared in "Strictly Politics."

It would also "help establish the credibility of the results of that investigation," he said.

The mutineers accused Reyes and military intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus of masterminding the bombings to have the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) declared as a terrorist group and eventually get more US funding for Mrs. Arroyo’s anti-terror campaign.

They also accused the military leadership of planning bombings in Manila in a bid to extend Mrs. Arroyo’s stay in power through martial law.

"They will do this through bombings in Metro Manila which they will blame on other groups," said Capt. Gerardo Gambala, citing the recent escape from Camp Crame police headquarters of self-confessed Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi as "essential to this operation."

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. should take responsibility for the escape and resign, the mutineers said.

They also accused the military leadership of selling arms to rebels from the MILF, the communist New People’s Army and the Abu Sayyaf Islamic kidnap-for-ransom group.

The mutineers, who colleagues say also hold a sterling combat record, said they had come across recovered ammunition from captured rebel camps with markings "DND (Department of National Defense) Arsenal."

"These bullets are same ones that are killing our fellow soldiers in the field," complained Gambala shortly before he and his fellow mutineers gave themselves up after holding a key apartment and shopping complex in Makati City last Sunday for 22 hours.

Reyes called the allegations "ridiculous."

"(The soldiers) staged a rebellion, a mutiny or whatever you may call it that has caused a lot of damage to the country. And then they demand for my resignation? There’s something drastically wrong with that setup," he said on the talk show.

Yesterday, Corpus turned in his irrevocable resignation, which was accepted by Mrs. Arroyo. Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo would retain Corpus "in some other capacity" in the military.

Mrs. Arroyo’s decision "is a privilege of the President, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces," Bunye explained.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief, said Ebdane and Reyes should follow Corpus’ example of delicadeza or sense of propriety.

Two other opposition lawmakers, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon and Sen. Vicente Sotto III, praised Corpus for his decision.

However, Lacson questioned Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to retain Corpus, saying the former intelligence chief could get "a more juicy" post.

Pimentel said the mutineers might feel they are at a "gross disadvantage" if Reyes does not go on leave because the military is under Reyes’ supervision.

He added the Makati siege would be "multiplied many times over" if the issues raised by the mutineers were ignored.

Reyes said he has ordered Gen. Narciso Abaya, the armed forces’ chief of staff, to investigate allegations that the military leadership was selling weapons and ammunition to rebel groups.

He also hinted that the 300-odd mutineers were instigated by the Arroyo administration’s political enemies. "I appreciate and respect their idealism. I respect that they fight for what they think is right. If you were merely used, I can still understand it. I can sympathize with you. But if you allowed yourselves to be used, willingly and knowingly, that’s a different story," he said.

Earlier, in exposing the alleged coup plot, Mrs. Arroyo warned "unscrupulous politicians who exploit the messianic complex of these officers for their naked ambitions." She did not elaborate.

Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, vice chief of staff of the military, said allies of jailed former president Joseph Estrada may be behind the mutiny, which initially called for the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo, who replaced Estrada after a military-backed popular uprising in 2001.

Estrada’s former deputy executive secretary, Ramon Cardenas, was arrested and charged with rebellion on Tuesday after police found weapons and supplies in a house allegedly owned by Estrada and used as an assembly point by the mutineers. — With Ann Corvera, Pamela Samia, Marichu Villanueva, Jose Rodel Clapano