Philippines Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes resigned yesterday, becoming the second government casualty of a military mutiny last month. He said he hoped his action would give the president a free hand to deal with alleged efforts to destabilize the government.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had accepted the resignation and was assuming the defense portfolio temporarily.
Reyes said he had become the target of vicious personal attacks that were painful but tolerable, but he was stepping down because of efforts to undercut the Philippines' 17-year-old democracy and besmirch and divide the armed forces.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"At this time, there exists a well-organized and well-funded effort by certain forces to bring down our democracy through massive political disinformation and agitation," Reyes told a news conference, flanked by the chief of staff, top generals and defense undersecretaries.
"Part of this effort include an insidious and deliberate attempt to break apart the armed forces of the Philippines," he said.
Military intelligence chief Brig. General Victor Corpuz quit days after the July 27 mutiny that the government has called part of larger plot to overthrow the government. The mutineers had demanded that they and Arroyo step down.
The rogue soldiers accused Reyes of corruption and masterminding a deadly bombing in the southern Philippines early this year to get US anti-terrorism funding.
He strongly denied the allegations, but the charges haunted him. He went to the Malacanang presidential palace yesterday and tendered his resignation to Arroyo, then met with several of his staff members before publicly announcing that he was quitting.
"Today I wish to announce that, notwithstanding the baselessness of the charges hurled against me, I have decided to resign my position as secretary of national defense," Reyes said.
"One reason why I am doing this is to give President Arroyo a free hand in dealing with this situation. Another and ultimately more important reason... is my sincere hope that... the institution where I have spent the better part of my life -- the Armed Forces of the Philippines [AFP] -- will be spared the kind of attacks that will undermine the confidence of our people in the Filipino soldier and ultimately destroy the AFP itself."
It was the latest blow to Arroyo, who on Thursday accused "disgruntled and disenfranchised politicians" of trying to destabilize her government. She claimed she has the backing of the security forces despite last month's mutiny.
But the financial markets and the peso have suffered amid rumors of coup plots and allegations by an opposition senator that Arroyo's husband, Mike, is corrupt. The peso, which had been rebounding the last two days after hitting record closing lows, slipped again on radio reports that Reyes was quitting.
Arroyo denounced "a confluence of conspiracies to erode the foundations of our democratic system" and said those behind the attempts had launched "a combined assault consisting of overt acts and propaganda tirades."
Yesterday, Arroyo dismissed opposition calls for her to step down to pave the way for a snap election, calling it a "desperate and absurd" move, and warning that people are tired of "poison" politics.
She said that despite the alleged machinations by a few disgruntled rival politicians, the government's satisfaction ratings are good and the economy is doing better than other Asian countries.
A former armed forces chief with 39 years in the military, Reyes played a key role in the military-backed popular uprising that led to the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in January 2001 on corruption allegations.
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