Military declares loyalty to Arroyo

The Philippines military said it is "l00 per cent" behind President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and it will not back any movement to oust the incumbent government.

Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes said the army is intact, and critics of the Freedom Force should name the 17 generals allegedly plotting to overthrow the government.

But Reyes expressed doubts about 17 generals becoming involved in the group. At the same time, he assured that the defence department would investigate whether or not the generals were really part of a Freedom Force.

"I deal with threats to national security," said Reyes, explaining that the Freedom Force was not a threat to security.

Meanwhile, Arroyo, in a television interview, spoke her own mind. "The people (the Council for Philippine Affairs, the majority group in the Freedom-Force meeting) were always against me.

They were the ones who wanted collective leadership. They have never been allied with me. But at the moment they are willing to reconcile with me. I take their word for it."

All this followed a media speculation that a plot was afoot and that 17 generals had recently held a meeting with Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.

A long series of denials from people concerned followed, as the government mulled declaring a state of emergency following a series of bombing incidents in General Santos on May 23.

Columnist Amando Doronila gave a full list of those who attended the meeting with Sin, saying they could not have formed a militant group.

True enough, they were columnist Teodoro Benigno (former Cory Aquino press secretary), Boy Saycon, columnist and public relations officer Joan Orendain, Police Chief Superintendent Florencio Fianza, civic leaders Cesar Sarino, Vince Pacheco and Nick Locsin.

Former Congressman Jose Cojuangco was also present at the meeting, other accounts said.

Alarmed lawmakers of both houses loudly rejected the rumored scheme to instal a "collective leadership Freedom Force". Malacanang, the presidential palace, took a nonchalant stance, with Arroyo and the cabinet deciding to ignore the "threat". It cited instead the assurance of support from the defence department.

There were relentless cries for "loyalty checks" for particular cabinet members close to Arroyo and the military contingents in the headquarters of the southern Philippines where the situation has remained volatile, especially with the recent bombing incidents.

Meanwhile, Cojuangco, brother of former President Corazon Aquino, confirmed the existence of the Freedom Force.

"We are afraid that existing conditions might be conducive for some people to go (in) that direction (martial law)," he said.

He denied that their group was seeking Cardinal Sin's blessing to form a junta, adding: "How can that be when we merely told the cardinal that we will publish a manifesto? Somebody is making this up."

The Proponents of the 'Freedom Force' revealed that the group discussed the means "to buffer a social explosion" and right the ongoing anomalies of a long standing status quo, but had denied they were seeking to topple the government, further clarifying that their group name was merely a "concept" seen as a remedy for an "imminent collapse" of Philippine society if economic growth continually got destabilised.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed adviser on ecclesiastical and media affairs Dodi Limcaoco, who first revealed the existence of the Freedom Force and the meeting of its members with Sin, is now being blamed by Cojuangco for inciting a kind of wildfire.

In a separate television interview, Limcaoco said he "only responded to a request by some church officials to release a letter by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to the media rejecting the idea of collective leadership (to replace Arroyo)".

Cojuangco blamed the ecclesiastical and media affairs adviser for the public attention on the Freedom Force's meeting with the Cardinal, saying: "Limcaoco interpreted the idea of collective leadership as a junta. The confusion was caused by Limcaoco."