Rightists trying to turn military vs GMA?

Rightist groups are trying to break the chain of command in the military and turn against President Arroyo as she fights to stay in office amid the worsening political scandal, a military spokesman said yesterday.

"These groups want the Armed Forces (of the Philippines) to side with the opposition or withdraw support from the President," Armed Forces information chief Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual said.

Pascual cited the latest statement from the Young Officers Union-New Generation (YOUng), which he branded as "propaganda aimed at attacking the chain of command of the Armed Forces."

He maintained the shadowy rightist group behind the statement does not even contain active members of the military.

"That’s the objective of the group — to create a wedge between the senior leaders and the junior officers," he said.

"The AFP sees that the YOUng are not members of the Armed Forces," Pascual declared.

He said the rightists were propagating a council of elders or a caretaker government to replace Mrs. Arroyo.

YOUng issued a statement slamming the military high command which it claimed had lost its ability to address grievances aired by members of the uniformed services because the very people who run it are corrupt.

In a one-page manifesto supposedly signed by YOUng Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. Arsenio Alcantara, it claimed that the complaints by AFP personnel are simply being dismissed or the complainants harassed for political reasons.

"Oftentimes, AFP personnel who kept on airing their complaints are either ignored, persecuted or relieved from their posts and put on floating status. Worse, many of them have been branded as ‘destabilizers’ or ‘deviants,’" Alcantara said.

Alcantara cited "a few good men" in the military who are reform-minded but who ended being "shunted and ostracized."

"The culture of corruption is so widespread that it has become a way of life in the AFP," he added.

YOUng also branded as "a big lie" the AFP’s pronouncement that it had reformed the military’s grievance system following the Oakwood mutiny in July 2003.

"They (AFP) say that they had enhanced the grievance system after the Oakwood mutiny? What a big lie! There is no such thing as enhanced grievance system in the AFP. In fact, cases brought out before had long been forgotten while the culprits went free," YOUng said.

YOUng cited in its latest manifesto several cases of graft and corruption in the military involving a number of high-ranking AFP officials.

The group earlier issued a statement calling for their comrades in the military to oust President Arroyo.

The group declared it was breaking its 1995 peace accord with the government "to bring down the Arroyo government and save the country from further ruin." The military has dismissed the statement as bogus.

For two months Mrs. Arroyo has been dogged by allegations that she cheated in last year’s election and that members of her immediate family received kickbacks from illegal gambling barons.

The political opposition filed an impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo in Congress last week after attempts to oust her through street protests failed.

The President has refused to resign, claiming she is the victim of "black propaganda" efforts.

Unlike in 1986 and 2001, when the military backed "people power" revolts which toppled former presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, the Armed Forces is vowing to remain neutral in the current crisis.

Some opposition politicians including retired generals have openly called for the creation of a "governing council" or junta to run the country if Mrs. Arroyo is removed from office. But so far they have garnered little support.

Pascual said the YOUng statements would not have their desired effect, stating that "the Armed Forces will not be broken by this trash talk, trash propaganda." — With Agence France Presse