MANILA, Oct 3: Philippine politicians argued on Monday about an alleged plot to kill President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, with the opposition claiming it was an attempt to divert attention from allegations of cheating and corruption.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said on Saturday she was given information that a relative of Franklin Drilon, the Senate president and a former Arroyo ally, was plotting to ‘physically remove’ the president before Oct. 15.
Jose de Venecia, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, said he had separate information that unspecified groups were planning to kidnap Arroyo.
“It’s a canard,” Drilon said on Monday, adding Santiago may have been reading too many fiction novels. “This is not true and I believe this is part of an effort to divert the issue away.”
Arroyo, who survived an attempt to impeach her last month, has been embroiled in a political crisis since early June over allegations she cheated her way to a fresh term in last year’s election and that members of her family are corrupt.
She has denied doing anything wrong but her foes have vowed to press their case that she must step down.
Since Friday, rumours have been swirling about a possible intervention by the army to end the political crisis, which has rattled investors over fears the government is being distracted from reforms to improve revenues and cut debt.
The Philippines was entering a ‘more dangerous period when anything possible could happen’, said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms.
“I think the government was trying to hit two birds with one stone,” he told Reuters. “They may be floating these rumours to warn plotters as well unsettle senators attempting to revive the impeachment cases through legislative inquiries.”
Talk of restiveness in military ranks picked up when a general and a colonel were relieved of their commands last week after they testified at a Senate investigation into alleged tapping of Arroyo’s telephone conversations during the 2004 election.
While the Philippines has seen at least a dozen coup attempts since dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted by a military-backed popular uprising in 1986, senior commanders have said they will uphold the constitution and punish any wayward troops.
Arroyo, who has said frequent inquiries about everything from election cheating to lobbying contracts have turned Congress into a ‘kangaroo court’, recently issued an order preventing officials and soldiers from testifying without her permission.—Reuters
