2 Arroyo mistahs deny junta rumors

Two ranking military officials on Monday denied that a junta is being planned to prolong President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term in office beyond June 30. “I will assure you that there is nothing like that and we are not going to be party to any unconstitutional means of taking over the government," said Army chief Lt. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu in an interview after his command’s 113th anniversary celebration in Fort Bonifacio. Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban dismissed the junta scenario as “rumors," saying no military leader is capable of putting it up. “I don’t know about that. They are rumors … There will be no military junta. There are no leaders capable of [putting it up]. The Armed Forces will be one in protecting the people and the votes," he said. The country will have its first ever nationwide automated elections on May 10 despite widespread doubt that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can pull it off. Mapagu and Sabban, along with newly installed Armed Forces chief Gen. Delfin Bangit, are members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1978, which has President Arroyo as an honorary member. The other prominent members of the class are Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Roland Detabali, National Capital Region Command chief Rear Admiral Feliciano Angue, and Central Command chief Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva. Administration critics fear that the appointment of these military officials to key positions in the Armed Forces is part of a grand plan to extend President Arroyo’s term. Mapagu said they would ensure that the elections will push through on May 10. “We will ensure that there is going to be an election and that the election will be credible, that’s why we are helping the Comelec." - KBK, GMANews.TV