Philippine President Gloria Arroyo declared a state of emergency yesterday, saying she had quashed a coup plot but that the Philippines still faced a "clear threat" from treasonous forces.
Clashes erupted as riot police used water cannons to disperse about 5,000 protesters defying a ban on rallying at a shrine to the 1986 "people power" uprising that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Police used truncheons and shields to roust a stone-throwing group trying to gather for a second protest. Several people were arrested; others were bloodied.
Former president Corazon Aquino and about 5,000 people were later allowed to march peacefully to a memorial to her late husband Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 sparked massive protests that led to the revolt against Marcos.
Amid a massive security clampdown, the military barricaded its camps to keep troops from joining the demonstrations and detained an army general allegedly involved in the takeover plot. The military has played major roles in two "people power" revolts and has a recent history of restiveness.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday issued an "orange" travel alert for the Philippines, suggesting Taiwanese should temporarily suspend plans to visit the country.
Ministry Spokesman Michel Lu (
"So far, no Taiwanese in the Philippines have been affected by the [attempted] coup. Life in the city [Manila] and businesses remain unaffected," Lu said.
Taiwan's representative office in the Philippines has activated an emergency response plan linked to local police to closely monitor the safety of Taiwanese nationals, Lu said.
While she vowed she was in control, Arroyo was clearly worried about losing her grip on events as her opponents tried to hijack the anniversary activities.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye told reporters that commemorations have been canceled and that the military was ordered "to prevent and suppress lawless violence."
Arroyo, who survived two earlier coup attempts, said the political opposition, along with extreme elements of the political left and right, were determined to bring down the elected government.
"I am declaring a state of emergency because of the clear threat to the nation," a defiant Arroyo said in a taped, nationally televised statement.
"This is my warning against those who threaten the government: The whole weight of the law will fall on your treason," she said.
Appealing for calm, she claimed the military had quashed a coup plot by some military officers and their men.
"There were a few who tried to break from the armed forces chain of command, to fight the civilian government and establish a regime outside the constitution," said Arroyo, who held a pre-dawn emergency meeting of her national security council.
"We crushed this attempt," she said.
She stopped short of declaring martial law, a sensitive issue because Marcos used it to rule by decree.
Her chief of staff, Mike Defensor, said no curfew will be imposed but the declaration bans rallies, allows arrest without warrant, permits the president to call in the military to intervene and lets her take over facilities -- including media outlets -- that may affect national security.
Arroyo's aides linked former president Joseph Estrada and several others to the plot. Estrada laughed off the allegations, saying that he's been out of work and under detention for five years and didn't have the money to finance a coup.
"I don't have any work, how can I finance?" he asked.
Aquino, a one-time Arroyo ally, criticized the emergency declaration and reiterated a call for Arroyo to "make the supreme sacrifice" and resign.
"I believe that during these times, we should not forget that many sacrificed to regain our democracy," Aquino said. "We cannot just keep quiet because that is what happened during martial law. Our dictator then believed that he can do anything to keep himself in power."
The opposition said the declaration showed the government's desperation.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the largest lawyers' group in the country, said it would question the legality of Arroyo's declaration before the Supreme Court, according to its president, Anselmo Cadiz.
"It could result in more political hemorrhage and security risk," said Representative Roilo Golez, Arroyo's former national security adviser, who withdrew support from her. "This could get out of control ... if her crisis team doesn't manage this well."
Representative Teodoro Casino, a leftist leader, said anti-Arroyo protests won't end.
Military chiefs said they backed Arroyo. They arrested an unspecified number of people, including an army general who leads an elite special forces unit, for alleged involvement in a coup plot.
"We have reduced the threat," army chief of staff General Generoso Senga said. "We cannot say that it has been stopped."
Additional reporting by Chang Yun-ping
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