Malacañang confirms plot to destabilize gov’t

Malacañang believes that "there are indeed certain destabilization plans in the air" against the Arroyo administration but has declined to name the individuals or groups behind them.

In a statement released yesterday, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye finally admitted the existence of the rumored new destabilization plots against President Arroyo. "While we believe that there are indeed certain destabilization plans in the air, the administration is handling this with an utmost sense of responsibility," Bunye said.

Bunye insisted that the government is "not engaged in a witch hunt or random finger pointing" or the "manufacture" of "black propaganda."

In his daily press briefing, Bunye dismissed the claims of the political opposition led by Sen. Gregorio Honasan and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. that reports of new destabilization attempts were fabricated by the government as part of a "no-elections" scenario.

Honasan is the security chief of Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr., while Pimentel is running for re-election as a KNP candidate.

"The supposed report is absurd, especially the inclusion of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal in it," Bunye said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), through public information chief Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, also denied churning out false intelligence reports, as he requested the concerned parties to stop involving the "image of the AFP" in their "campaign strategy."

"We deny we have prepared or have issued any plan to link any political figure in this reported destabilization move against the government," Lucero said. He insisted that any alleged military report tying Pimentel and other opposition politicians to a new destabilization plot is fabricated.

Honasan claimed yesterday that sources in the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) had informed him that they were asked to fabricate reports implicating the opposition.

He said he had been furnished with an intelligence report — alleged to have been fabricated upon orders of Malacañang — naming him, Pimentel and Cardinal Vidal among the destabilizers. — With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude