Roundup: Coup Rumor Shrugged Off in Philippines

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shrugged off rumors of a coup allegedly being conspired by discontent elements in the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

"You should give me proofs before I believe the rumors," a press release from the presidential palace quoted Arroyo as saying Thursday in a press conference held in the central Philippine province of Aklan.

The president, who was in Aklan to inaugurate several tourism-related projects, said through her spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao that news reports of coup plots are rumors spread by "desperate elements of the opposition."

Rumors have been dispersed since early this week that leaders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are behind the destabilization plot because of grievances within the military.

Reports here also said a militant group called Urban Poor Liberation Front is allegedly plotting to overthrow the Arroyo administration, and a colonel from the northern province of Bulacan has been training recruits for a military uprising.

Some reports even said it was in the wake of the alleged coup d'etat that President Arroyo cut short by a day her trip last week to Shanghai for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit.

"These kinds of rumors have been an urban legend here in Manila whenever the president goes out of town," Tiglao said Thursday.

The overwhelming majority of the people and institutions, especially the military and the police, support the constitution and the president, Tiglao said.

"We're frightening away investors when we keep on reporting baseless coup attempts," he said.

The rumors added to selling pressure on the already bearish stocks market, where the benchmark index plumbed to a fresh 10-year lows Wednesday.

He added that no coup plot could ever get in action, especially to be against an administration supported by the people and all institutions including the military.

In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, sections of the military also made several coup attempts but none of them triumphed.

Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez Thursday said president enjoys a popularity rating of more than 60 percent as indicated by a recent survey.

Director General Leandro Mendoza, chief of the 113,000-strong the PNP, labeled rumors of a coup as outright unfounded.

Philippine military officials Wednesday downplayed reports on a possible coup, assuring President Arroyo that her troops remain solidly behind the president, the constitution and the Republic.

Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the coup rumors are being circulated to destabilize the nine-month-old administration of Arroyo.

Reyes, then AFP chief of the Estrada administration, threw his support behind Arroyo in the popular uprising in January that was also backed by other military officials.

Ex-president Joseph Estrada is facing charges on plunder, illegal use of alias and perjury before the anti-graft court.

The political opposition in the Philippine Senate Wednesday accused the government of conspiring to stimulate a "crisis environment" to force the Supreme Court to affirm the constitutionality of the plunder law, which is not in favor of Estrada.

They denied Thursday the charges that some of its leaders are involved in the destabilization plot, saying that rumors of coup can also come from "enemies within" the Arroyo administration.

Brushing aside coup rumors, the Philippine stocks price close higher on Thursday and stepping out of the fresh 10-year low on Wednesday.

Benjamin Chua, president of The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said Thursday that members of his organization are not alarmed by the rumored coup plots.

Chua said it will be "business as usual" for the federation members, adding that the rumors "are more imaginary than real. We believe that the president has already sent a strong message that the government is on top of the situation."






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