Honasan: 'We can't afford any uprising'

A senator who has been implicated in several former military coups said yesterday the country cannot afford violence, destabilisation or an uprising against an elected government at this juncture.

"We cannot afford any uprising at this time," said Senator Gregorio 'Gringo' Honasan.
"Any source of instability, uprising, rebellion and secessionist movement will not do the country any good. It is the last thing that we need," he stressed.

Honasan made the statement amid reports that some supporters of presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr. are gearing up for mass actions to stop the proclamation of President Arroyo by Congress.

Honasan, who along with former president Fidel Ramos and former senator Juan Ponce Enrile was involved in the 1986 People Power uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, called for restraint to restore normalcy amidst the brewing political tension in the country.

Honasan's call for calm was a surprise because of his past actions towards changing the country's socio-political structure which resulted in the loss of lives and scaring away of investors.

The former leader of the military organisation Revolutionary Nationalist Alliance was implicated in several coup attempts against the administration of Corazon Aquino.

He was also charged with rebellion in connection with the May 1 riots in 2001 and implicated in the Oakwood mutiny last year.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said pursuing any destabilisation efforts will bring a negative impact to the people especially the poor.

"First, it is the poor that suffer most from the socioeconomic impact of coup and destabilisation rumors," said Bunye in a statement.

"Second, these also undermine the capacity of our military and police institutions to serve the needs of our communities," Bunye added.

"In all these, it is the average Filipino that suffers most," Bunye said.

Bunye said the perpetrators of the coup have now been exposed and the government mainly the armed forces and the police are in control of the situation.

He said the armed forces and the police are solidly behind the Arroyo administration.

"By their insidious acts, some segments of the opposition have ranged themselves against the people and are now being exposed for the agents of anarchy that they really are, not the do-gooders they claim to be," said Bunye.

Honasan recently arrived in Davao City, to accompany Coalition of Nationally United Filipinos (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. in a tour of Mindanao to gather evidence of fraud allegedly committed by the administration. The senator is acting as the chief security officer of the KNP.

Honasan pointed out that a clear mandate is needed by anybody who will emerge the winner in the recent presidential elections.

"The only one who can offer peace, reconciliation and unity is the one who has a clear mandate to govern, be it President Arroyo or Fernando Poe Jr.," he said.

Honasan said he will support and work closely on the peace and reconciliation programme of whoever will be declared the next President.

Earlier, Honasan forged an agreement with Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), in which the outgoing senator represented the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood, Inc. (PGBI).

"I got into that agreement believing that whoever wins must have a clear mandate that is derived from a clean, credible and honest elections," he said.

Honasan said he went around the country to purposely check on the PGBI members in their Ballot Watch" project documenting cases of electoral fraud.

"Basically, what we do is gather evidence and pass them on to the KNP lawyers so that they can evaluate their usefulness as evidence," he said.

Honasan said PGBI conducting regular meetings with De Venecia regarding cases of election fraud brought to their attention.

Among the most rampant cases, Honasan said, were those of disenfranchised voters and vote-buying.