Gov’t moves to curb military’s involvement in politics

The government moved yesterday to curb the military’s involvement in politics after several officers were implicated in an alleged coup plot against President Arroyo.

Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz said Mrs. Arroyo and her Cabinet had approved in principle his proposals for the government to stop deputizing military units for election duty as part of efforts to insulate the troubled institution from politics.

The proposal would take effect in next year’s midterm elections.

The government traditionally assigns soldiers and police to guard ballot boxes and to act as bodyguards for candidates during elections, on top of their primary duty of fighting militants.

Mrs. Arroyo lifted yesterday a week-old state of national emergency imposed to thwart an alleged coup plot involving members of the police and military in alliance with communists.

Under the emergency crackdown, the head of the Scout Rangers elite infantry unit, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, was detained while police Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco was sacked as head of a paramilitary commando unit and "placed under restrictive custody" along with three of his men.

Another officer, Marine brigade commander Col. Ariel Querubin, was removed from his post after he admitted planning to lead his men to an anti-Arroyo rally.

Opposition senators have accused several generals of helping Arroyo allies rig the results of the 2004 elections in the troubled Lanao provinces. Mrs. Arroyo was declared the winner.

Opposition Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a retired Marine general and former military chief of staff, has said both Querubin and Lim visited him last year, six months before the alleged coup plot, asking the legislature to put pressure on the military to purge officials involved in alleged poll fraud.

Cruz said the military had completed an internal investigation into the allegations and he would submit his recommendations to the President shortly. He declined to discuss the report’s findings.

"The Armed Forces should have no involvement in the elections unless there is a direct armed threat" against the process, the official said.

"Ballots should not be counted inside military camps, and Marines should not be assigned as bodyguards of politicians during the election campaign," Cruz said, adding that if soldiers want to venture into politics then "they should give up their guns first." — AFP, Jaime Laude