Hunt on for ‘messianics’

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. yesterday said the hunt is now on for some members of the military who supported Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and ex-Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim in their Manila Peninsula stunt the other day.

“There are still messianic people that think they could solve the problems of the entire country when they could not even solve their own problem,” he said, adding these groups are now being pursued by combined military and police forces.

Esperon stressed that the military as an organization remains solid, as he pointed out that there is no need for him to order a loyalty check among the troops in the aftermath of the failed power grab.

“We do not need loyalty checks here. We are solid, as solid as the armed forces can be. If you have to build this unity and solidarity, you must constantly work on it. You do not have to rely on loyalty checks,” he stressed.

Coming along with Esperon’s pronouncement was the deployment of two Army battalions from Central Luzon to Camp Aguinaldo yesterday morning to reinforce the 3,000-strong anti-coup National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM).

Esperon explained the reinforcement is part of a preemptive move against a sizable group composed of active and retired military personnel who were identified with Trillanes and Lim.

“We preempted a group,” he told Camp Aguinaldo reporters yesterday, referring to the arrival of the 48th Infantry and Light Reaction Battalion (LRB) at Camp Aguinaldo.

Without directly admitting that the security situation remains fluid, Esperon said the military is still expecting other scenarios to come up in the aftermath of the peaceful resolution of the Makati standoff.

But he added that any attempt at a power grab is bound to fail.

“We are not discounting anything that is why we are on red alert. That’s why we have contingency forces and I must assure you that the AFP is solid and is working very closely with the Philippine National Police (PNP).”

Esperon bared that a group composed of less than a hundred is among four groups being closely watched or being hunted by the military and the police.

He said he is keeping their identities secret but hinted that some of them could be the 28 Marines and Scout Ranger officers presently detained in Tanay for their involvement in the Feb. 24, 2006 failed military uprising.

“They don’t need to be placed under custody,” he said, apparently referring to the officers led by his mistah, ex-Marine Commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, who is detained inside an Army camp in Tanay.

An officer in Tanay confirmed that additional security had been implemented around Miranda and his group while Lim and Trillanes were holed up in the Peninsula hotel.

“It’s the same people again. It’s Danny Lim and his gang. These are messianic people who think they can solve the problem of the country while they can’t even solve the problems in their own unit,” Esperon said.

He also admitted that they only learned of the Trillanes and Lim caper Thursday morning, when several Army commanders and personnel reported to their superior officers that Lim was recruiting them.

At that time the military and police leadership appeared to be unaware of the plans of the two when they walked out of their hearing at the Makati City Regional Trial Court.

But Esperon said the military had ample time to react and was able to isolate the Peninsula hotel with enough troops.