Abat issued a statement yesterday calling on young officers in the armed forces to press for reforms and "give a new day, a new beginning to our nation."
Abat was earlier charged with inciting to sedition for declaring last week a "revolutionary transitional government" to oust President Arroyo at Club Filipino in San Juan.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez explained that the new charge against Abat — a former Philippine Army chief, former defense secretary and former ambassador to China — was for forming the Coalition of the National Salvation on April 30, which Gonzalez said was meant to force Mrs. Arroyo from office.
Abat also called for Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster on that day and was eventually charged with inciting to sedition. The case, filed by two lawyers, is still in the preliminary investigation stage.
"We have resolved the first inciting to sedition case. This is a similar incident. The case was filed before the San Juan Metropolitan Trial Court," Gonzalez said.
"He is incorrigible. He knows that he has a pending case here because he submitted to the process of preliminary investigation. He was warned, but he persisted in doing that. He really challenged the State. It will show that he really committed a continuing offense."
In a statement he read at Club Filipino last Dec. 14, Abat declared "the existence of a revolutionary transition government and the formation of a transition government council to administer the affairs of government."
In a statement issued the following day when he was taken in by the police for questioning, Abat said he found it a "shame that given the ills and misrule that bedevil our beloved country, none of our young generation of leaders would stand up and take the lead to do something."
Abat had urged the military and the public to support calls for the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo, who survived an impeachment vote in the legislature in September over allegations she cheated to win the May 2004 presidential election.
In an April 30 press conference also at Club Filipino, Abat called for a "revolutionary transition government" to replace Mrs. Arroyo to "reform the system of governance and restore morality in political leadership and in the culture of the Filipino people."
He said there was a "need for a revolutionary transition with a firm but benevolent and decisive leadership, to enable us to develop discipline, institute authoritative governance and install the foundation of a strong nation."
Yesterday, Abat issued a statement rallying young officers in the armed forces to hold on to their ideals and preserve the "integrity, honor, patriotism and loyalty that are being trampled upon with impunity by those we trusted would uphold them."
He thanked them for paying him a visit during his brief detention at Camp Crame, where he was taken for questioning last week.
"In your boldness to eschew authority and visit me in my detention, I see the first rays of dawn, the awakening to responsibility and national urgencies by the young," Abat’s statement read.
"It is not politically correct, let alone healthy for the military career of young officers to boldly display sympathy for an old comrade who openly questions the legitimacy and worth of the present dispensation, so your courageous gesture indeed to this old soldier is doubly touching and meaningful."
Abat failed to rally popular support and the military said they stayed loyal to Mrs. Arroyo, who survived a small mutiny in 2003.
"But disheartened as I was and am by the indifference and timidity of our young to act in the face of wanton disregard by the holders of power for our ideals I have not lost hope," he said in his statement yesterday.
"I have not lost hope that the young would come through, that the fire of patriotism would burn in their breasts anew, that truth and justice would again be their paramount measure to determine whether the way their leaders prod them to follow is the correct and lawful path or just the road to perpetuation of an inept and dishonest regime."
Rumors have swirled in recent days that a new coup plot was being hatched against Mrs. Arroyo whose approval rating has plunged to record lows due to a six-month campaign from the opposition to oust her.
These rumors resurfaced after a Marine officer, Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, facing charges for a foiled mutiny against Mrs. Arroyo in 2003, escaped Wednesday shortly after a court hearing.
In July 2003, about 300 young officers, including Faeldon, and their troops seized an upscale residential condominium in Makati City’s financial district and rigged the area with bombs.
They accused the military leadership of corruption and selling weapons to rebel groups. They surrendered in less than a day after hours of negotiations. — With Jaime Laude