Palace vows to fight ‘destab’

As security forces went on high alert following reports of a last-ditch attempt to overthrow the government on May 1, Malacañang warned yesterday that President Arroyo is ready to impose anew strong measures to thwart destabilization efforts against her administration.

"Time and again, President Arroyo has successfully wielded the weapons of the Constitution to quell the forces of destabilization," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

Bunye said the filing of coup and rebellion charges against suspected communist rebels and rightist military elements "proves that Philippine democracy has the full capacity to deal with threats to its stability and survival."

"The long arm of the law has finally caught up with the right wing-left wing conspiracy," Bunye said.

"This should serve as a warning against those who still persist in their dark designs that they will never succeed in overwhelming this government by force because the people themselves abhor such means and the system itself is strong enough to resist it," he stressed.

When asked whether Mrs. Arroyo would issue another proclamation declaring a state of emergency as she did last Feb. 24, Bunye said: "Lets just put it this way, we have the means to control the situation and these are means that are within the constitutional and legal limits."

"I can only answer in a general term, as to specifics it would depend on the situation. We’re saying that we have laws to observe and if these laws are broken the lawbreakers will have to answer the consequences," he said.

The President issued Proclamation 1017 last Feb. 24 to thwart an alleged rightist-communist coup plot that was supported by opposition leaders and businessmen. The controversial proclamation was used by authorities to justify a crackdown against dissent including news organizations critical of the administration.

It was lifted a week later amid howls of protests from various sectors including the media as well as expressions of concern from the international community. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in a few days on the legality of the proclamation.

Key leaders of the alleged coup plot, including former senator Gregorio Honasan and leftist party-list congressmen, were charged on Monday with rebellion. Honasan was also charged for his alleged involvement in the failed 2003 Oakwood mutiny.

Bunye said the actions of the government in addressing possible protest actions and destabilization attempts as a run-up to the Labor Day celebrations would depend on how serious the situation might be.

He said authorities are prepared for any eventuality as he expressed confidence that the government has "the situation well under control."

Armed Forces officials warned on Monday that some extremist forces might take advantage of the Labor Day celebrations to push through with their "Final Talk 2," which involves the gathering of all leftist and rightist forces to advance on Malacañang and trigger the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo and the overthrow of her government.

The plan is similar to the violent riots staged by urban poor followers of deposed President Joseph Estrada on May 1, 2001. Security officials said details of Final Talk 2 were discovered among the documents seized from recaptured Magdalo officer 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan.

Final Talk 2 is a sub-plot of Oplan Hackle, the supposed overall blueprint for the takeover of government. The plan reportedly details last ditch efforts of rightist forces to merge with the left to gather at least 500,000 rallyists on May 1 to trigger the overthrow of the government.