Palace set to quiz DILG, DND on 'destab' plot
04/29/2009 | 08:35 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang will quiz the Interior and Defense departments on persistent reports of an alleged "destabilization" plot involving six military rebels and a New Zealander arrested at a private shooting range in Pampanga last week.
Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday the quiz comes in the wake of conflicting statements from the military and an anti-crime task force under the Palace.
"Yan ang di natin alam. Siguro kailangan malaman ito ni [DILG] Sec. [Ronaldo] Puno o kaya this involves some people from the military. Kailangan makipagugnayan tayo kay Gen. [Alexander] Yano o [Defense] Sec. [Gilbert] Teodoro," Bello said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
[We have to get to the bottom of this. We have to ask Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno or if this involves some people from the military, we have to coordinate with Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Alexander Yano or Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.]
Bello said the allegations have already dragged the names of personalities like former President Joseph Estrada to the mess.
Estrada had denied the allegations.
"It could cause the lives and liberty of people. That is why there is a need to be very careful and see to it na totoo itong info na ito [that this information is accurate]," Bello noted, referring to the allegations.
On Tuesday, the military claimed six military personnel, including a 2003 Oakwood mutineer, and a New Zealander arrested by security forces last week in a private shooting range in Clark Field, Pampanga were training for jobs abroad.
Armed Forces public affairs office head Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said their arrest "is not in any way connected to any destabilization attempt."
But Mariano Villafuerte, director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), said those arrested were planning to overthrow the Arroyo government.
Villafuerte, son of Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, said the six were training to spring detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and former First Scout Ranger Regiment commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. Trillanes and Lim are detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame.
On Tuesday, Trillanes denied any plot to rescue them from detention.
The seven were eventually released as prosecutors sought further evidence to establish probable cause. - GMANews.TV
Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday the quiz comes in the wake of conflicting statements from the military and an anti-crime task force under the Palace.
"Yan ang di natin alam. Siguro kailangan malaman ito ni [DILG] Sec. [Ronaldo] Puno o kaya this involves some people from the military. Kailangan makipagugnayan tayo kay Gen. [Alexander] Yano o [Defense] Sec. [Gilbert] Teodoro," Bello said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
[We have to get to the bottom of this. We have to ask Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno or if this involves some people from the military, we have to coordinate with Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Alexander Yano or Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.]
Bello said the allegations have already dragged the names of personalities like former President Joseph Estrada to the mess.
Estrada had denied the allegations.
"It could cause the lives and liberty of people. That is why there is a need to be very careful and see to it na totoo itong info na ito [that this information is accurate]," Bello noted, referring to the allegations.
On Tuesday, the military claimed six military personnel, including a 2003 Oakwood mutineer, and a New Zealander arrested by security forces last week in a private shooting range in Clark Field, Pampanga were training for jobs abroad.
Armed Forces public affairs office head Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said their arrest "is not in any way connected to any destabilization attempt."
But Mariano Villafuerte, director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), said those arrested were planning to overthrow the Arroyo government.
Villafuerte, son of Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, said the six were training to spring detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and former First Scout Ranger Regiment commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. Trillanes and Lim are detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame.
On Tuesday, Trillanes denied any plot to rescue them from detention.
The seven were eventually released as prosecutors sought further evidence to establish probable cause. - GMANews.TV
