Corpus: No more coup tries until end of GMA’s term

BAGUIO CITY — A repeat of the failed July 27 military uprising is unlikely before the end of President Arroyo’s term next year as mutinous elements have been isolated, former military intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus said here Saturday.

Corpus, who has taken the helm of the Armed For-ces of the Philippines Civil Relations Group (AFP-CRG), said military coup plotters will have difficulty orchestrating a power grab because the masterminds of the foiled July 27 mutiny "were all accounted for."

All 57 junior military officers involved in the Oakwood mutiny are now held at the MIG-16 detention center at Camp Aguinaldo, said Corpus, who helped detect the mutiny.

Some 300 soldiers were involved in the mutiny in what the government said was an attempt to oust the President and install a junta. The mutineers surrendered after 22 hours.

Corpus, who spoke at a conference here, was accused of corruption by the mutinous officers. At the time, Corpus headed the intelligence service of the AFP. He was forced to resign from ISAFP on July 30 in an apparent concession to restive forces within the military.

"They will have a hard time" plotting a new coup, Corpus said, referring to speculations over the possibility of other efforts to topple the Arroyo administration. Coup plotters, he said, would have to start from scratch by recruiting new followers.

He said it takes a long time to hatch a coup plot. The failed mutiny, he said, was the result of much planning. "You cannot plan, mobilize and recruit people for a coup overnight," he added.

Corpus also said he does not think any coup will be launched before June 30 next year, when the President will have served the remainder of her deposed predecessor’s term.

Meanwhile, Corpus also said he is suing the Magdalo group for libel for issuing statements published and aired by the press accusing him of corruption.

The President recently said she was reversing her Dec. 30, 2002 decision not to run in the presidential race and that she will seek a full six-year term in the May 2004 elections.

She cited the need to repair the damage cause by the alleged coup attempt as one of her reasons for running for president.

The Philippines was rocked by a series of bloody military coup attempts in the late 1980s that crippled economic growth. — With AFP