Military dismisses alleged ‘Andres’ plan

Coup plotters involved in last year’s failed Oakwood mutiny may again try to overthrow the government and install outgoing Sen. Gregorio Honasan to power, the Armed Forces said yesterday.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces spokesman, said details of "Campaign Plan: Andres" were lifted from several diskettes found at the posh Oakwood Premier apartments in Makati after the surrender of rebellious troops on July 27 last year.

"The plan was based on the premise that the Philippines is on the verge of collapse, and there is a need for radical changes," he said.

"It looks like everything seems to elucidate you with the present political trend... as I have said, the present political trend can be expressed and be explained by this (operational plan) Oplan Andres where everything seems to go as prepared (in) Oplan Andres," Lucero said.

He said Oplan Andres calls for a government takeover in a two-pronged attack: the "FPJ" and "Robin" options.

"Both will progress simultaneously along the same time frame because they both lead to the assumption to power by Honasan," he said.

"We don’t want to speculate who is FPJ. It could be another name, but in this document, the group plans to grab power since FPJ sits as the leader of the government."

The Armed Forces sees the parallelism of Oplan Andres to the present situation, Lucero added.

On the other hand, Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, Armed Forces civil relations chief, said it is possible that "unfriendly forces" would try to kill Fernando Poe Jr., after he is elected president.

Corpus said it would be easy for Honasan to have Poe assassinated through "an accident" because he heads the security detail of the presidential candidate.

Corpus uncovered the plot when he was chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In Mindanao, Armed Forces Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko said Southcom harbors no member of the Kawal Filipino military rebel group. He issued the statement following an inspection of various military units in the field.

Kyamko cautioned troops that Army captains who formed Kawal were deceived by civilians trying to undermine the Arroyo administration.

"The forces in the South remain loyal to the mandate which they swore," he said. "The soldiers remain loyal and solid here in Mindanao and preoccupied in their task to protect the civilians and the sovereignty."

Division commanders have also conducted their assessment and reported to Kyamko about the newly formed shadowy military group. — Christina Mendez, Roel Pareño