Left wing rebels 'formed secret front with right' to oust Arroyo

Manila: A mutineer turned state witness confirmed that in late 2003, there was a standing alliance between left and right wing rebels in a bid to oust President Gloria Arroyo.

In a video tape titled, Conspiracy of Betrayal Army Captain Gerardo Gambala said that members of the communist New People's Army (NPA), led by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) spokesman Gregorio Rosal approached right wing rebel soldiers to build an alliance to topple Arroyo.

Members of the NPA approached the rebel soldiers after some 300 young military officers failed in a coup plot on July 2003, said Gambala, adding that former senator Gregorio Honasan was part of the negotiators for the alleged alliance.

Honasan was involved in the people-backed military mutiny that paved the way for the ouster of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the ascent of Corazon Aquino to the presidency in 1986.

Honasan also launched several failed coup plot versus Aquino from 1987 to 1989. He did not join military-backed protest rallies that paved the way for the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

The alliance between the right and left wing rebels was finally forged in 2004 (after the May elections), said Gambala.

The names of the other right wing rebel soldiers who were not yet imprisoned but were implicated by Gambala were not released on the video tape.

Gambala was one of the 300 young officers who joined a military mutiny by taking over a posh hotel in Makati City on July 27, 2003. He and his companions were imprisoned at the Army headquarters in Makati City's Fort Bonifacio since 2003.

Gambala's group, called Magdalo, was reorganised and given two new names, Nationalist Soldiers, and then Soldiers of the People, when the alliance between the right and left wing rebels was finally forged in 2004, Gambala said.

The video tape disclosed details of the "Oplan Hackle", including dates and actions to be undertaken by the mutineers from February until May 1 this year, for the ouster of Arroyo.

"Oplan Hackle" included the failed coup on February 24. But another plot, code-named 4G, was scheduled on May 1, during the celebration of Labour Day, according to the video tape.

The content of the video tape was based on the documents that were seized from escaped coup plotter Lawrence San Juan after his arrest last month, the military said.

"The video showing has one message: don't sleep with the enemy," said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, adding the video showing was envisioned to discourage soldiers about the unholy tactical alliance of groups that have ideological differences.

"I think we have proven that a link was established between the left and ultra rightist groups, for the failed ouster of the president," Ermita said.

Sources said that the imprisoned mutineers remained divided since 2004.

Last year, Gambala and Captain Milo Mastrecampo have apologised to President Arroyo for their action in July 2003. The presidential palace did not show a sequel of the first video tape titled Fight against Betrayal.