It’s not a coup if it is successful

Uncle Webster says the literal meaning of "coup d’ etat" is stroke of state. It is, however, defined as a sudden decisive exercise of localized or concentrated force unseating the personnel of a government; unexpected or sudden measure of state often involving force or threat of force.

In our country, the word "coup d’ etat" has acquired a new meaning. If it is successful, the change of leadership in the highest office of the land is called "people power" and not power grab. If the conspirators fail in their coup plot, then they have to face the full force of the law and slapped with rebellion, mutiny, or inciting to sedition charges. This is the sentiment of the people who are now facing these charges either before state prosecutors or in courts.

So it is not surprising when Malacanang Palace officials strongly took exceptions to the claims of deposed President Joseph Estrada that his former Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly conspired with disgruntled elements of the military and civil society leaders in his ouster at the end of the EDSA-2 People Power Revolution in January 2001.

The untold stories of EDSA-2 are again resurfacing more than five years later. This time, the behind-the-scene tales are a more detailed account of the events prior to the departure of Estrada from the Palace.

And what is turning out to be an irony of these belated revelations is the fact that these details came out as a result of an espionage case involving the alleged conspiracy between local Opposition leaders with former Fil-American US Marines Gunnery Sgt. Leandro Aragoncillo in the pilferage of "classified information" in the supposed ouster plot against President Arroyo.

A number of Filipino officials were implicated in the espionage case, including Estrada himself, as recipients of the alleged "classified information" stolen from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files as passed on to them by Aragoncillo. Now undergoing trial for espionage, Aragoncillo, whose last stint was with the FBI, pleaded guilty to the charges in a plea bargaining agreement to get reduced sentence for this crime.

The 47-year old Aragoncillo first worked at the White House in Washington D.C. from 1999 to 2002 as administration chief of the security detail assigned to former Vice President Al Gore and then Dick Cheney. The FBI was alerted on the activities of Aragoncillo by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency when he intervened in the deportation proceedings against former Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, a protégé of opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson.

Aragoncillo was arrested Sept.10 last year on charges of taking files from the FBI from August 2000 to August 2005. The FBI discovered he emailed classified documents to Aquino and his contacts in the Philippines. Although the US prosecutors have not identified these Filipino officials, their identities perfectly fitted the descriptions of Lacson who was mentioned as former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the Estrada administration and now a Senator and two unnamed members of the Philippine House of Representatives.

It was during the state visit of Estrada to the US in July 2000 when he was first introduced to Aragoncillo by no less than his counterpart former American President William "Bill" Clinton who presented the latter along with the rest of the 21 Fil-Am White House staff at that time. I distinctly recalled this because I covered Estrada’s state visit for The Star and I wrote about it.

From hindsight, Estrada regretted his not giving credence to the ouster plot against him based on the "information" passed on to him during those times prior to EDSA-2. He recalled getting sometime in September 2000 such "information" coming from a "friend" of his administration. The information was that his Vice President had been holding clandestine meetings with certain military Generals who included then Southern Command chief Gen.Edgardo Espinosa, Gen.Alberto Braganza, and former Armed Forces deputy chief of staff Gen.Diomedio Villanueva.

Estrada asked then AFP chief of staff Gen.Angelo Reyes to check on these information and was told that the meetings of these Generals were nothing but "customary courtesy calls" to the Vice President. He left it at that. And the rest is history. The former President could only blame himself now for being too trusting and over confident that no such thing could happen. He relied on the words of assurances of his then Vice President that she would not be a party to any unconstitutional acts.

During the early months of her assumption into office, President Arroyo ecstatically recounted in one gathering of her rejoicing EDSA-2 allies telling them: "Maybe, I should tell my own version of some untold stories, especially with regard to the military." And she mentioned more of these police and military Generals who were subsequently promoted and appointed to Cabinet and other key civilian posts in the government after their retirement from the PNP and the AFP.

So, it is not unexpected at all if the Palace defends Mrs.Arroyo as not being part of any coup plot to oust Estrada. Whatever new revelations come out now, nothing can change the fact that Estrada had been replaced by Mrs.Arroyo as his constitutional successor. The Supreme Court had already ruled on the legitimacy of Mrs.Aroyo’s take-over from Estrada and completed his remaining term at the Palace which ended on June 30, 2004. Estrada insists though up to now the constitutional clock had stopped.

With the admission of Aragoncillo who pleaded guilty to passing "classified information" to certain opposition leaders in the ouster plots against Mrs. Arroyo, administration defenders immediately cashed in their chips to bolster their alleged coup conspiracy by the enemies of the State as justification for Proclamation 1017. The SC last week ruled "1017" as constitutional a few days after the 5th anniversary of the EDSA-3 uprising by Estrada loyalists last May 1 which passed by without any untoward incidents.

As the recognized leader of the Opposition, Estrada has remained on top of the list of the usual suspects in every coup plot against Mrs.Arroyo, the most recent one of which was the foiled Feb.26, 2006 ruckus at the Philippine Marines Headquarters in Fort Bonifacio. This, despite the fact that Estrada continues to be in detention while being tried for plunder at the Sandiganbayan. But as pundits would say, the plot thickens.

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