5 MUTINY LEADERS INCOMMUNICADO. The five leaders of the mutiny in Makati City have been put under "incommunicado detention."
They were moved to the headquarters of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces (Isafp) at Camp Aguinaldo at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and taken to the barracks of the Military Intelligence Group 17 at the Isafp compound, according to lawyer Argee Guevarra, who said he was in touch with Navy Lieutenant Second Grade Antonio Trillanes IV during the transfer. Under Isafp custody, they will not be allowed to receive visitors or talk with members of the media, Guevarra said, adding: "It's called incommunicado detention."
A military official, who asked not to be named, confirmed the transfer to Isafp custody of Trillanes, Navy Lieutenant Sergeant James Layug, and Marine Captain Garry Alejano, but said this was done yesterday morning. Army Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo were being processed for the same transfer, said another official who also asked not to be named.
Trillanes, the outspoken leader of the Magdalo group, had been gagged by his superiors ever since he and his co-plotters returned to barracks Sunday night. He and Layug were held inside the Naval Intelligence and Security Office at the Bonifacio Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio, Makati City, a highly reliable source said.
Trillanes described the government move as treachery in an interview aired on radio shortly before military intelligence officers took him into custody. "They have reneged on their part of the bargain," he said, claiming that during negotiations for their surrender, the government had guaranteed they would not be detained. "This is a warning to the government: We'll have to handle this correctly, properly, because not all of us have been accounted for. Otherwise it will explode on their faces again," Trillanes said.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 30 July 2003
LAWMAKER, GOVERNOR CONFIRM SALE OF GOV’T GUNS. The sale of government-issued firearms to Moro rebels has been going on since the 1970s, a former commander of the Moro National Liberation Front, who is now a congressman, said Tuesday.
Lanao del Sur Representative Benasing Macarambon said there was some truth to the allegation of some young soldiers, who staged a mutiny on Sunday, about the military selling weapons to rebel groups, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a group led by Salamat Hashim that broke away from the MNLF. An Armalite, which cost 35,000 pesos at that time, was bought by the MNLF from military commanders at 25,000 pesos to 30,000 pesos, according to Macarambon. He said the MNLF was buying weapons not in bulk but in 10s or 20s.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said his group might have bought weapons that belonged to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In Baguio City, Cordillera officials said the National Peace and Order Council has records of the reported sale of government ammunition to rebels. The congressman said military personnel were selling their own firearms and ammunition to the MNLF without removing the serial numbers. Asked if the sale had the consent of the military hierarchy in Camp Aguinaldo, Macarambon said he was not sure.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 30 July 2003
MACAPAGAL FORMS 3-MAN BODY TO PROBE ‘ROOTS’ OF MUTINY. Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo has formed a three-member commission composed of two retired Supreme Court justices and an academic to investigate the roots of the military mutiny last Sunday and the "provocations" that inspired it.
The President made the announcement in a speech at Camp Aguinaldo Tuesday. She said retired SC Justice Florentino Feliciano has accepted the appointment to head the commission. Completing the panel are retired SC Justice Minerva Gonzaga-Reyes and political science professor Carolina Hernandez. Feliciano and Gonzaga-Reyes are believed to be among the country's best legal minds while Hernandez is a noted military affairs expert. She was a member of the Davide Commission that investigated the 1989 coup attempt.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 30 July 2003
HONASAN RESURFACES, DENIES PART IN MUTINY. Opposition Sen. Gregorio Honasan, and in a privileged speech yesterday denied having had anything to do with last Sunday’s failed coup by junior military officers.
A day after being conspicuously absent at the opening of Congress on Monday, Honasan resurfaced and delivered an emotional speech of personal privilege before the Senate, saying the accusations hurled at him now "involved the dignity and independence of the Senate." Honasan also stressed the concerns made by the soldiers who staged the mutiny are legitimate. In his speech, Honasan reminded his colleagues that his extra-constitutional activities were "a thing of the past," since he had been appointed as chairman of the Senate committee on peace, unification and reconciliation after being elected.
Honasan said he could not have instigated the rebellion since he played a key role in convincing the rebels to surrender peacefully. Honasan claimed receiving a call from Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Michael Defensor and Deputy Director Renato Velasco, Philippine Information Agency (PIA) chief. Both officials informed Honasan they were authorized by President Arroyo to ask for his help in negotiating the peaceful surrender of the rebels in Makati City.
In a statement, Velasco said it was Honasan who called him up and offered his assistance to help out in the negotiations. Velasco said Honasan "professed no involvement in the mutiny and agreed to talk to the mutineers." During the negotiations, Honasan said it became apparent that the young mutineers presented legitimate grievances and raised issues that have rang a very sympathetic chord in the people. He backed the creation of an independent body to look into the causes of the mutiny, but said its members must not be appointed by Mrs. Arroyo but instead by the Senate so it would be more "credible."
Source: Philippine Star, 30 July 2003
REBELLION CHARGES FILED VS CARDENAS. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed rebellion charges yesterday against former senior deputy executive secretary Ramon Cardenas before the Makati City regional trial court (RTC) in connection with the mutiny staged by rebel soldiers last Sunday.
Cardenas’ lawyer Abraham Espejo implied that the evidence against his client was "planted" since nobody was in the house at the time of the raid by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG). The NBI, however, denied "planting" any evidence during the raid early Monday.
The DOJ said that after careful evaluation of the evidence submitted by the NBI, it found probable cause to warrant Cardenas’ indictment for the crime of rebellion. No bail was recommended for 65-year-old Cardenas, the principal accused in the case.
Cardenas’ last position under the administration of ousted President Joseph Estrada was as head of the Presidential Management Staff, a Cabinet rank. Before that, he was senior deputy executive secretary. Authorities on Monday raided Cardenas’ house in the posh Dasmarinas Village near the Ayala Center — which had been seized by the rebels — and discovered munitions, assault rifles and red arm bands similar to those worn by the mutinous soldiers.
A similar cache had been discovered during an earlier raid on a house reportedly owned by a mistress of former Pres. Estrada. Estrada has vehemently denied any involvement in the failed mutiny, saying he was being set up as a fall guy.
Source: Philippine Star, 30 July 2003
AMERICAN OFFICIALS UNAWARE DONATED ARMS USED IN MUTINY. American officials are unaware that US-made weapons worth millions of dollars and given to the Philippines to fight terrorists were used in Sunday’s mutiny.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya said at least three rebel soldiers from the US-trained, 90-man Light Reaction Company (LRC) had taken sophisticated weapons and equipment from their unit’s armory. These included night vision goggles, sophisticated scopes and thermal scanners, explosives, M1A4 carbines, Barret sniper rifles, and other types of high-powered sniper and assault weapons.
US Embassy spokeswoman Karen Kelley said once weapons and equipment are turned over to the Philippines, the US government no longer has any control over them. LRC troops were trained and equipped by the US Armed Forces as elite anti-terrorist soldiers during last year’s Balikatan at a cost of P1 million per head. Two more LRCs are being created and their members trained in Zamboanga City and Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija. The training and outfitting of LRC troops are part of a US military assistance program to the Philippines agreed upon between the two governments during Mrs. Arroyo’s visit to Washington in November 2001.
Source: Philippine Star, 30 July 2003
COURT MARTIAL PROCEEDINGS FOR MUTINEERS START. Court martial proceedings are being prepared against the renegade soldiers accused of mounting a mutiny last Sunday, Armed Forces spokesman Col. Daniel Lucero said yesterday.
He said the possible trial of the junior military officers, who are under technical arrest, will also coincide with a larger effort to unmask more senior figures possibly both within the government and the opposition behind Sunday’s 22-hour mutiny. Lucero said Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya has ordered the convening of a task force "so we can investigate those involved."
He said the servicemen who participated in occupying Oakwood Premier Ayala Center in Makati City on Sunday had been placed under the custody of their respective commanders. Lucero said their movements were being "restricted" and they would not be allowed out of their headquarters. He said there were security measures to keep them from fleeing. Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus said they have already started the interrogation of the five officers involved in the mutiny.
Even as Corpus refused to identify the five officers, sources identified them as Trillanes, Capt. Milo Maestrecampo, Capt. Gerardo Gambala (Army), Marine Capt. Gary Alejano, and Navy Ltsg. James Layug. The five are now being grilled by Corpus, the very same person whom they accused of corruption and masterminding the Davao City bombings. Sources said the five officers were placed under strict security and intensive interrogation by Col. Carlos Quita, chief of the military intelligence group (MIG-17).
Source: Philippine Star, 30 July 2003
ARROYO VOWS TO CRUSH MUTINEERS’ BACKERS. President Arroyo threatened yesterday to crush political rivals linked to last weekend’s military mutiny, saying attempts to destabilize her government were being made by those who "still live in the dark ages of dictatorship and deception."
Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, the military intelligence chief, said the thwarted mutiny was "only the tip of the iceberg" and that anti-government feelings remained among some soldiers and their civilian supporters.
The warning came a day after police arrested a close ally of disgraced ex-President Joseph Estrada for allegedly aiding young disaffected military officers who led the brazen, but bloodless, rebellion on Sunday. Investigators have said other key civilian cronies of Estrada - who has been put on trial for corruption by Mrs. Arroyo’s administration – would also be arrested soon. Estrada has denied involvement. Police claim that senior members of Estrada’s former administration were among those behind the mutiny.
Source: Philippine Star, 30 July 2003
Independent probe on Davao City blasts welcomed.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's statement in her State of the Nation Address on the creation of an independent body to investigate the bombings in Davao City that killed 38 people was a welcome development for local leaders there.
"That is most welcome, but we want to know how independent is 'independent', taking note that it was suggested by Secretary Reyes," said Councilor Leonardo Avila III. Joel Virador, Bayan Muna spokesperson for Southern Mindanao, said the organization cannot make a good stand on the statement unless Ms. Arroyo names the individuals who will compose the body.
Mr. Virador said the creation of the body would tend to show that a group really had sabotaged peace in Mindanao. There were speculations that a "third group" was the one who caused the explosions at the Davao International Airport and Sasa Wharf on March 4 and April 2, respectively.
Joji Ilagan-Bian, Mindanao Business Council chairperson, said the independent body must really dig into the reports that the military was behind the explosions. "We need significant results that will satisfy the public," said Ms. Bian. She said the government must be transparent in this investigation to avoid suspicion that the creation of the body was only for a show.
She added that the investigation was timely as the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were scheduled to meet next week to resume the peace talks in an effort to settle the Mindanao conflict. The government has blamed the explosions on the MILF, saying that the rebels had a terrorist unit that was directly linked with the international terrorist organizations. The military dismissed the claim of the Abu Sayyaf Group owning up to the bombing.
But some groups doubted the claim of the government, saying some people within its group was behind the blasts. One of those that tagged the military was the National Democratic Front (NDF). Through its spokesperson for Southern Mindanao, Jorge Madlos, the NDF claimed it was the military that was behind the explosions.
Earlier, investigators said the bomb material used in the attacks was C4 which is only available in the military's armory, said the NDF. But local authorities dismissed the NDF claim because its armed component, the New People's Army, has a tactical alliance with the MILF.
Source:BusinessWorld Online, 29 July 2003
70 OFFICERS, 226 SOLDIERS RETURN TO BARRACKS. A mutiny by soldiers ended peacefully late Sunday after nearly 300 troops holed up in a booby-trapped apartment complex called off their 20-hour rebellion against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Ms Macapagal appeared on national television to declare the stand-off over, hailing the outcome of the Southeast Asian nation's eighth military uprising in 17 years as a "triumph for democracy." "The crisis in Makati is over," a smiling President said in her broadcast. "(The) 296 soldiers, including 70 officers, are standing down and returning to barracks. "They will be investigated and their cases will be disposed of in accordance with the articles of war," she said. "They have not asked for and they shall not be given special treatment." The President thanked the leaders of Congress, the church, the people and the international community for supporting her government.
Officials said the officers who led the rebellion would face military justice. The soldiers involved are "answerable to the articles of war," which govern the conduct of men in uniform, retired former military chief Roy Cimatu told reporters as he announced the results of several hours of talks. Armed forces chief of staff General Narciso Abaya said the rebels were "being bussed" toward the Fort Bonifacio army headquarters in Makati.
The mutinous troops agreed to go back to the barracks after a marathon meeting with Cimatu and middle level officers from the Navy and the Scout Rangers,. The mother of one of the leaders of mutinous soldiers was able to persuade the President to extend the deadline for the men's surrender by two hours to 7 p.m. Sunday. But the second deadline passed without Ltsg. Antonio Trillanes and most of his men filing out of the twin towers of Oakwood Premier Ayala Center, which they seized and rigged with bombs early Sunday. Oakwood, the country's first luxury serviced apartments, is the centerpiece of the 36-hectare Ayala Center in Makati.
Hours before the first deadline came, more than 15 soldiers involved in the mutiny surrendered to government troops after the President ordered military and police to suppress the mutineers "immediately." A third deadline was set, this time indefinitely, with Ambassador Roy Cimatu, former Armed Forces chief of staff, acting as the government negotiator. The renegade soldiers, who belong to the elite fighting forces of the Army, Navy and Air Force, had participated in about four training exercises under the joint Philippine-US Flash Piston exercises in Subic, Zambales and Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.
Unlike the "people power" revolts that peacefully ousted two presidents in recent years, there appeared to be little public support for the mutiny. The military chief of staff declared loyalty to the Philippine president. At 3 a.m., renegade troops in camouflage uniforms set up gun posts and rigged explosives around Makati's Glorietta complex, which includes one of the country's largest shopping malls. The military responded by sending marines to positions nearby.
"We are not attempting to grab power. We are just trying to express our grievances," Trillanes, who is among the officers the President ordered arrested, told reporters on the scene. He said the explosives were for self-defense. "If they try to take us down, we will be forced to use it," he said.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 28 July 2003 Inquirer, 07/28/2003
MACAPAGAL, REYES, CORPUS ACCUSED. To justify their mutiny against the government, the group of rebel soldiers holed up in Makati City virtually accused the top leadership of the military and the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of treason.
The group of rebel soldiers who tagged themselves Magdalo after Emilio Aguinaldo's faction in the Spanish-era revolutionary group Katipunan, raised serious charges against Ms Macapagal, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, and military intelligence chief Brigadier General Victor Corpus. Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the leaders of the group, accused the administration of selling ammunition to the country's different rebel groups, masterminding the Davao airport and wharf bombings, and planning to declare martial law next month.
Trillanes added that the controversial escape of Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi from the national police headquarters Camp Crame validated their fears that the administration was determined to hold on to power. Trillanes said the top echelon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines continued to supply the Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the communist New People's Army with bullets, the same ones killing their fellow soldiers in the field. He said this was confirmed by various experiences of junior field commanders who found government bullets in the lairs of the rebels.
Trillanes also accused Reyes and Corpus of masterminding the Davao bombings. He said these were timed before the President's US state visit so that she could win financial support from the Americans. He then accused the government of planning to extend its stay in power through martial rule. He said the administration planned to detonate bombs in different places in the capital to legitimize martial law. Trillanes said the group tried to air their complaints when they met with the President recently, but nothing came of it.
Reyes expressed willingness to face a probe over the junior officers' allegations. He announced Sunday night that he had recommended to the President the creation of a "high and independent investigating commission" to look into the grievances. To avoid any possible whitewash in the investigation, Reyes said he also proposed to the President the inclusion of a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1995, to which many of the leaders of the mutinous soldiers belong, in the commission. At least five congressmen have also proposed an independent probe to investigate the mutineers' claims.
The rebels are demanding that the administration of Ms Macapagal be replaced with a "National Recovery Program" (NRP) -- the platform of Senator Gregorio Honasan, the former Army colonel who led most of the bloody coup attempts in the 1980s. Rebel soldiers openly distributed copies of the program with Honasan's name on it to journalists. The program has vague statements on fighting crime, corruption and terrorism, cleaning up the judiciary and reviewing the country's trade commitments.
Trillanes said his group was not supporting Honasan, but he explained that the former military rebel's program of government was the only viable plan that could take the country out of its current political and economic crisis. Among other things, the plan calls for the reform of the judiciary, the bureaus of custom and internal revenue, and the Philippine National Police. Notably, the NRP proposes the retirement of all officials from the rank of brigadier general/commodore/chief superintendent and above.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 28 July 2003
SENATE TO PROBE CORRUPTION IN AFP. Senators will investigate the complaints of mutinous soldiers about alleged corruption and abuse of privileges in the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces and the "plunder" of the soldiers’ pension funds.
"We will look into their grievances, regardless of the outcome of the Makati siege," Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate defense committee, said yesterday. He said he would file a resolution this week calling for the inquiry. He said unless the grievances are investigated and solutions to problems are found, there will always be restiveness and disillusionment in the defense and military establishments. He added that the mutinous soldiers could have ventilated their complaints through democratic and peaceful means instead of barricading themselves in a Makati building.
Senators Joker Arroyo and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. support the projected investigation. "It seems that corruption was the root cause of this mutiny, although this event here in Makati is now becoming a political move on the part of these rebellious soldiers," Arroyo, a former Makati congressman, said. Arroyo said the mutiny is the second "blight" that the country has had to suffer in less than a month before the international community, after the escape from his Camp Crame prison of suspected terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi last July 14. He added that he hoped the young mutinous officers had taken into account the adverse effects of their move on the country and had resorted to peaceful means of airing their grievances.
Pimentel also disagreed with the move taken by the young officers, saying, "I don’t think that is the way to do it." However, he said he would support Magsaysay’s plan to look into the soldiers’ grievances. Pimentel said the projected Senate investigation should cover corruption and other irregularities in the entire bureaucracy "because that is part of the soldiers’ complaints."
Source: Philippine Star, 28 July 2003
Rebel soldiers' revelations "vindicated" Muslims. Leaders of Moro groups here are demanding a "serious independent investigation" on the rebel soldiers' allegations that the military was behind the Davao bombings.
"We urge the Muslim congressmen, ulama and lawyers to conduct an investigation (along) with the Commission on Human Rights and Department of Justice," said Ustadz Ayubkhan Saripada, a rally organizer of the Quiapo Islamic Center. Rep. Mujiv Hataman of Anak Mindanaw said he plans to file a resolution asking for a congressional investigation into the rebel soldiers' allegations of arms sale by officials in the Armed Forces to the rebels and that the military perpetrated the Davao bombings. Others expressed relief that Muslims have been "vindicated" because of the rebel soldiers' revelations.
Muslims bore the brunt of the anti-terror campaign as government forces raided Moro communities and rounded up following the bombings and in Mindanao and the recent escape of Indonesian national Fathur Al-ghozi of the Jemaah Islamiyah. Mosques were also lobbed with grenades in Davao City hours after the April 2 seaport bombing.
"We did not need to go out in the streets and protest. We Muslims got justice," said Dang Musa of the Metro Manila-based national network, Young Moro Professionals (YMP). Rep. Mujiv Hataman (Anak Mindanaw) said Moro communities, especially in Metro Manila must "stand vigilant" in protecting their rights to privacy and from warrantless arrests. The YMP leadership also urged Moro lawyers to help protect Moro communities from unwarranted searches and seizures by conducting human rights education and taking up cases of detained Moros.
Source: MindaNews, 28 July 2003 (Samira Ali Gutoc/MindaNews)
CARDINAL SIN DECLARES MUTINY ‘IMMORAL’. The rebel soldiers calling themselves the Magdalo Group are "immoral," Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin said yesterday as he shepherded Filipinos to the EDSA Shrine to keep vigil to protect the country’s democracy.
"The enemies of our peace are sowing lies and using terroristic means to take power. The Magdalo Group is immoral. God will not bless those who sow violence and spread lies," Sin said. Sin called on the public not to support the mutineers. "Go to EDSA now. Let us pray. Let us keep vigil. Let us protect our democracy. We must stand guard against these plotters," Sin said. He had called priests and nuns in his jurisdiction to a meeting at his residence in Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong City last Saturday, warning of the impending coup, which was launched several hours later.
Pro-administration groups have been gathering at the EDSA Shrine since Saturday night. As of late afternoon yesterday, there were only about 300 people — mostly nuns, policemen and soldiers — at the shrine.
Phil. Star, 07/28/2003
GUINGONA: MUTINEERS’ DEMANDS LEGITIMATE. Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. described the concerns of soldiers staging their mutiny yesterday as "legitimate" and called on Malacanang to resolve the standoff in Makati City "peacefully."
"While we need to listen to the legitimate grievances of the soldiers who have dared to stand up for what they believe in, the greater and immediate challenge is to defuse this explosive state and resolve the crisis peacefully without bloodshed," Guingona said in a statement. Guingona said the crisis will be an opportunity for the government "to heal the division in our land."
Source: Philippine Star, 28 July 2003
"Common knowledge." The alleged sale of war materiel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to rebel groups, the first in the list of "grievances" of the Magdalo group of AFP junior officers and enlisted personnel, did not surprise many in Mindanao as this is "common knowledge."
Dr. Melchi Ambalong of the Mindanao Commission on Women in Iligan City said she is sad that the President in her 5 p.m. ultimatum to the Magdalo group did not include a probe on their allegation on the sale of guns and bullets when this is "common knowledge" in Lanao del Sur.
LTSG Antonio Trillanes, Magdalo spokesperson, said war materiel is being sold to the New People's Army, Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and that soldiers are being killed by rebels firing bullets from the AFP arsenal. In an interview over ANC, Trillanes cited as an example how a colleague of theirs was ordered to leave a truckload of war materiel to a certain place in Mindanao which was later collected by rebels. Trillanes said slugs recovered from slain soldiers bore "AFP Arsenal" markings. Trillanes' description of the delivery of war materiel is similar to the description of an official in the gold rush area in Diwalwal on the delivery of weapons and ammunitions to gold miners until government's takeover of the mine site last year.
The official told MindaNews last year that the delivery was always escorted by a military or police official to ensure the shipment is not stopped along the checkpoints. Several commanders of the New People's Army in Mindanao have also said their main source of firearms and ammunition, aside from "agaw-armas" (seize firearms) in a raid or an ambush is buying from soldiers since they have not been successful in bringing in firearms from outside the country.
In April 2000, Salamat Hashim, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) acknowledged in an interview that most of their ammunition "come from the military but of course we're getting the money (to pay for it) from our people."
Source: MindaNews, 28 July 2003
PRESIDENT: YOUNG OFFICERS PLEDGED ‘ABSOLUTE FEALTY’. Young officers griping about corruption in the military assured President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that they were not about to join a move to oust her, the President herself announced Thursday in military camp north of Manila.
"I've already talked to many of their representatives and they assured me of absolute fealty," Ms Macapagal said, referring to the meeting, and later on a dinner, with members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) classes of 1994 and 1995. "The chief of staff (of the Armed Forces, General Narciso Abaya) is on top of the situation and there's no cause for alarm," the President also said, referring to the coup rumors that have swept the military camps in the past 48 hours. Ms Macapagal instructed Abaya to put in place a "grievance mechanism" for the soldiers to ventilate complaints from the ranks, stressing it was the duty of commanders to look after the welfare of their people.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff, however, said the administration should "put rhyme and reason to what [it is] doing in addressing the coup rumors." He said that despite its denials, the Palace had engaged in rather suspicious actions, including the investigation of soldiers who were only headed for retraining or rest and recreation. Biazon noted that when media reports on a possible coup came out, authorities cited rest and recreation and retraining as a justification for the troop movement.
The senator took Bunye to task for telling the media "there was no reason for the President to be alarmed since no troop movement has occurred." And yet, he said, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero, the Armed Forces' public information officer, confirmed that the declaration of an alert status was an offshoot of persistent coup rumors. Lucero later changed his statement.
Biazon cited the "physical actions of the Armed Forces" that he said contradicted the official stand of Malacanang and the military. He said these were:
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 25 July 2003