No coup under Aquino administration, AFP assures

There will be no coup d’etat under the Aquino administration, a ranking military official assured on Wednesday. Instead, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be “very stable" and “more professional" with Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III, the leading presidential candidate, as its commander-in-chief, according to AFP deputy chief of staff for operations Maj. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan. “The only coup d’etat we will mount this time is against corruption, against poverty and against insurgency," Pangilinan said at a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo. Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon “Cory" Aquino, had survived several coup attempts during her term. Pangilinan said the military is “more focused" today than 15 years ago. “We will be an AFP that is the same, perhaps more focused than maybe 10 or 15 years ago," he said. “Every one in the Armed Forces knows his place in society, that is, to protect the people and the state." Pangilinan likewise appealed to Aquino to pick a good Defense secretary, and not to take for granted the military during his administration. “I don’t think pababayaan niya ‘yung (he will take for granted the) Armed Forces. We are a great component, a big component of the society and also of the government. We can accomplish a lot for the society, not only for the administration," he said. The military is currently headed by Gen. Delfin Bangit, who is closely associated with outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Bangit belongs to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1978, of which President Arroyo is an honorary member. Aside from Bangit, other members of PMA class of 1978 have been appointed to key positions within the military organization. - Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMANews.TV