Philippine Army Leader Rules Out Military InterventionPhilippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes ruled out military intervention December 5 to force President Joseph Estrada to resign amid political crisis gripping the country.Stressing that the military is guided by the constitution, Reyes rejected the call of former Defense Secretary Fortunato Abat for the military to intervene by withdrawing its support from the Estrada government to resolve the political crisis. "We have a united, professional, constitutional, and non- interventionist Armed Forces. We are guided by the constitution," he told reporters during an interview in Manila. Reyes pointed out that "if we say there are people (who) are calling for military intervention in whatever manner, and I think that military intervention is something that is very serious that we should not even consider at this point." Abat, a retired major general and former commanding general of the Philippine Army, had issued a manifesto in behalf of the Federation of Retired Officers and Enlisted Men, asking military personnel in the active service to persuade the president to step down to resolve the political turmoil. He stressed that military intervention did not mean mounting a coup d'etat or using force to topple the government. But Reyes has repeatedly said the constitutional process should run its course, referring to the on-going impeachment against President Estrada before the senate. The impeachment case was largely based on allegations of a provincial governor that President Estrada received millions of US dollars from illegal gambling operators and tobacco tax kickbacks. |
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