BY VICTOR REYES

THE Armed Forces has deployed additional troops to Metro Manila to pre-empt possible attempts to grab power during protest rallies scheduled for Monday.

A composite battalion arrived at the headquarters of the AFP National Capital Region Command (NCRcom) in Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday from nearby provinces, Maj. Gen. Fernando Mesa, NCRcom chief, said yesterday.

The reinforcing battalion is composed of three companies from the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division based in Rizal, 5th Infantry Division in Isabela, and 7th Infantry Division in Nueva Ecija. A company is composed of at least 120 men.

Last week, a company from the Light Armored Division composed of at least eight tanks and 95 officers and men also arrived at the NCRcom which had about 1,500 troops before the deployment of the armored unit.

"Said forces will form part of our operational readiness and contingencies to prevent any attempts of power grab, if ever," said Mesa.

Nationwide protest actions are set to be held by militant groups Monday for the 22nd anniversary of Edsa 1 and to press for President Arroyo’s ouster. A thanksgiving Mass will also be offered by civil society groups and members of the political opposition at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City.

On Friday next week in Makati City, civil society, militant and Church-based groups are holding an interfaith rally that some bishops said could lead to calls for President Arroyo’s ouster.

"We would like to warn all those who would cross the line or challenge the duly constituted authority that they will be met with the full force of the law," Mesa said.

The NCRcom, formerly known as the AFP National Capital Region Defense Command, was activated after the Oakwood mutiny in July 2003.

Mesa said if a situation like the Manila Peninsula standoff last November arises, "I assure you it will not last five hours. We are always ready to prevent them from inflicting harm and doing some violations of the law, undermining our Constitution."

The standoff lasted about six hours. It was led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who were among those who led the Oakwood mutiny when he was a Navy lieutenant. Trillanes and his group, as they holed out at the hotel, called for Arroyo’s ouster.

Mesa appealed to the organizers of the rallies on Monday to police their ranks, saying terrorists might sabotage the protest actions. The military had warned of infiltration by the New People’s Army of past rallies, including last Friday’s rally in Makati City.

‘DON’T INVOLVE US’

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon asked civil society groups to stop agitating the military to intervene in the political tension which arose from allegations of payoffs and bribes in the national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp.

Esperon said they have been getting text messages asking the military to make a stand on the issue.

"We (Armed Forces) do not want to intervene because believe that it should be civil society and the democratic processes themselves that should solve problems… the military’s concerns are the armed threats, those that endanger the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the public," he said.

Esperon said the military’s role is also to safeguard democratic institutions.

NO SHORTCUTS

Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano said: "Do not encourage the Armed Forces to intervene. There should be no shortcut, no extra-constitutional means... It is improper for some groups to call for the military to intervene...We can’t interfere every time there is political problem... It is not for a noisy minority to dictate on the people what to do."

Yano assumes the post of AFP chief on May 9 when Esperon’s extended tour of duty ends.

ESPERON ALSO EVIL

Officers accused of an attempt to grab power in February 2006 carried a placard at the continuation of court martial proceedings against them.

The placard said: "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."

Accused Col. Ariel Querubin, asked who he was referring to as "evil," said: "You already know who I am referring to."

"Evil" was the term used by former planning secretary Romulo Neri to describe Arroyo, according to NBN-ZTE Senate witness Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada.

Neri, who has told the Senate of a demand for commission in connection with the NBN-ZTE deal, has said he could not remember describing Arroyo as such.

Accused Lt. Col. Achilles Segumalian took the placard from Querubin and told reporters Esperon is also "evil."

"The man who sent us to jail is also evil. I was calling for clean elections and they charged me with conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman," he said.

Segumalian was involved in the standoff at the Marines headquarters in February 2006. He was caught on video saying soldiers want clean elections.

Pressed who is "evil," Segumalian referred to Lozada’s statement. – With Regina Bengco