Standoff linked to ‘Final Talk 2’

The military bared details yesterday of an alleged alliance between disgruntled military officers and communist rebels seeking to bring down the government that officials said was connected to the weekend standoff at the Philippine Marines headquarters at Fort Bonifacio.

Military spokesman Col. Tristan Kison said details of the plan, code-named "Final Talk 2," were found in a computer diskette seized from 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, one of the leaders of the Magdalo group’s failed mutiny against Mrs. Arroyo in July 2003.

San Juan, who recently escaped from military detention, was arrested after a meeting with two top leaders of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Padre Garcia town in Batangas last week.

Last Friday, President Arroyo declared a state of national emergency following a failed coup attempt, which was allegedly hatched by a brother of former President Corazon Aquino, Philippine Olympic Committee chief Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, and opposition leader Pastor "Boy" Saycon.

Mrs. Arroyo accused the political opposition of forging a "tactical alliance" with right-wing "military adventurists" and communist rebels against her administration.

The Department of Justice has ordered an investigation of the allegations against Cojuangco and Saycon, which came following an account by an unidentified Time magazine reporter who witnessed the planning.

Kison said the weekend standoff with the Philippine Marines, who protested the sacking of their commandant, was an offshoot of the conspiracy between the Magdalo military faction and the communist rebels.

"In the document, we can come up with the conclusion that there was a tie-up," Kison told reporters. "This means that the left and the right have joined hands to bring down the government."

The document contained code names that the military had identified to be those of communist rebel leaders and retired senior military officers, as well as their roles in the plan to bring down the government and in the post-coup scenario.

Among the rebels identified were Leo Velasco, a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) central committee; Prudencio Calubid, a senior NPA officer; and regional NPA commander Tirso Alcantara, who had met with San Juan.

The identities of three other communist rebel leaders are being determined by the military.

The retired military officers were identified as Col. Rafael Galvez, Col. Jake Malajacan and Capt. Felix Turingan. San Juan and lawyer Jose Christopher Belmonte were also named.

The document also named a certain "Bitoy" who would head the alliance and whom the military believes is former military rebel leader and former senator Gregorio Honasan, leader of a series of coup attempts against Corazon Aquino in the 1980s.

Galvez, Malajacan and Turingan were members of Honasan’s defunct military rebel faction, Reform the Armed Forces Movement, which in 1986 spearheaded a mutiny against Ferdinand Marcos that eventually led to the EDSA I people power uprising that toppled the dictator.

The plan called for Galvez to head the military side of the alliance with San Juan as head of a senior staff. Malajacan would head its political arm with Turingan as his deputy.

After finalizing their plan, the two sides had a ceremonial toast to celebrate their "union of the philosophy of change."

They then discussed how to carry out their plan, which included a march on Malacañang by supporters of deposed President Joseph Estrada and left-leaning activists.

Efforts would be made to turn the military against Mrs. Arroyo, including the Philippine Marines and the Philippine Army.

Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, who was sacked last Friday from his post as commander of the Army’s elite First Scout Ranger Regiment, would head the anti-Arroyo military.

The PNP’s crack Special Action Force, whose commander was also relieved last Friday, was also included in the plan.

Authorities detained four police officers and filed charges against 16 opposition figures yesterday for trying to overthrow the government, as President Arroyo widened a crackdown against alleged coup plotters.

Authorities are investigating allegations that Cojuangco and Saycon hatched the plan with over a dozen mid-level officials and businessmen at Cojuangco’s residence as witnessed by a Time magazine reporter.

Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco, who was sacked Friday as head of the SAF, and three of his men were "placed under restrictive custody" amid reports they were recruiting people for a coup plot, national police chief Arturo Lomibao said.

At the same time, police filed charges of rebellion and attempted coup d’état against 16 opposition figures, including House of Representatives members Crispin Beltran, Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and Teodoro Casiño.

Beltran was arrested Friday and the three others said they feared they would be taken in when Congress resumed sessions later Monday.

The four leftist legislators had been at the forefront of street protests which the authorities said were part of a plot to topple the government.

Also on the list of those facing charges was Honasan, said Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza, head of police criminal investigations. Honasan’s whereabouts are unknown.

The charges, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, came a day after about 100 members of the Marines, led by decorated combat veteran, Col. Ariel Querubin, holed up at their headquarters protesting the sacking of their commandant, Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, who had apparently taken the heat for his subordinate’s political actions.

The standoff ended peacefully late Sunday when the Marines returned to barracks but Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the incident forced Mrs. Arroyo to prolong the state of emergency order.

He did not say how long the state of emergency would be extended but assured the public that the order was temporary. — With Jose Rodel Clapano, Michael Punongbayan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Aurea Calica, AFP