Arroyo tightens Philippine crackdown

MANILA – The Philippines yesterday detained four police officers and filed charges against 16 opposition figures for trying to overthrow the government, as President Gloria Arroyo widened a crackdown against alleged coup plotters.

Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco, who was sacked on Friday as head of an elite paramilitary police unit, and three of his men were “placed under restrictive custody” amid reports they were recruiting people for a coup plot, national police chief Arturo Lomibao said. At the same time, police filed charges of rebellion and attempting a coup d’etat against 16 opposition figures, including House of Representatives members Crispin Beltran, Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and Teodoro Casino.Beltran was arrested on Friday and the three others said they feared they would be taken in when Congress resumed sessions later Monday.The four leftist legislators had been at the forefront of street protests which the authorities said were part of a plot to topple the government.Also on the list of those facing charges was former senator Gregorio Honasan, an ex-army colonel who in the 1980s led several coup attempts against the government, said Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza, head of police criminal investigations.Honasan’s whereabouts were unknown.The charges, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, came a day after about 100 members of the Marines, led by decorated combat veteran, Colonel Ariel Querubin, holed up at their headquarters in a defiant stand against Arroyo.They were protesting the sacking of their commandant, Major-General Renato Miranda, who had apparently taken the heat for his subordinate’s political actions.The standoff ended peacefully late Sunday when the Marines returned to barracks but Arroyo’s spokesman said the incident forced her to extend the “state of emergency” which she declared on Friday to quell what her advisers said was a coup plot hatched by leftist groups and military “adventurists.””I believe the public will understand that the lifting of Proclamation 1017 will be slightly delayed,” spokesman Ignacio Bunye said on Philippines radio, referring to the emergency declaration.He did not say how long the state of emergency would be extended but assured the public that the order was temporary.- Nampa-AFPAt the same time, police filed charges of rebellion and attempting a coup d’etat against 16 opposition figures, including House of Representatives members Crispin Beltran, Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and Teodoro Casino.Beltran was arrested on Friday and the three others said they feared they would be taken in when Congress resumed sessions later Monday.The four leftist legislators had been at the forefront of street protests which the authorities said were part of a plot to topple the government.Also on the list of those facing charges was former senator Gregorio Honasan, an ex-army colonel who in the 1980s led several coup attempts against the government, said Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza, head of police criminal investigations.Honasan’s whereabouts were unknown.The charges, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, came a day after about 100 members of the Marines, led by decorated combat veteran, Colonel Ariel Querubin, holed up at their headquarters in a defiant stand against Arroyo.They were protesting the sacking of their commandant, Major-General Renato Miranda, who had apparently taken the heat for his subordinate’s political actions.The standoff ended peacefully late Sunday when the Marines returned to barracks but Arroyo’s spokesman said the incident forced her to extend the “state of emergency” which she declared on Friday to quell what her advisers said was a coup plot hatched by leftist groups and military “adventurists.””I believe the public will understand that the lifting of Proclamation 1017 will be slightly delayed,” spokesman Ignacio Bunye said on Philippines radio, referring to the emergency declaration.He did not say how long the state of emergency would be extended but assured the public that the order was temporary.- Nampa-AFP