BY VICTOR REYES and
RAYMOND AFRICA
THE military yesterday declared a
nationwide red alert while the PNP raised the level to
heightened alert in preparation for protests and other
activities for the 22nd year anniversary of Edsa 1 today.
President Arroyo made an unscheduled trip
to Camp Crame. She left more than an hour later after a
briefing on security preparations for today’s activities.
AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said
soldiers will serve as reserve forces and stay in the camp.
They can leave their bases only if their if
their assistance is sought by the National Capital Region
Police Office which is the primary agency tasked to ensure
peace and order.
"If uniformed members of the Armed Forces
join the rally, we are going to get them because that is
against our regulations," he said.
The National Capital Region Command has
been on red alert since before the February 15 protest in
Makati City where various groups denounced corruption in
government and sought the President’s resignation on the
ground she has lost the moral authority to govern.
The NCRcom has about 1,500 troops. For
today’s activities, it is being reinforced by a composite
battalion composed of three companies (a company is about 120
men) from the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division based in Rizal, 5th
Infantry Division in Isabela, and 7th Infantry Division in
Nueva Ecija, and a company from the Light Armored Division
composed of at least eight tanks and 95 officers and men.
Some 10,000 Metro Manila policemen will be
on duty today but they will not all be deployed to rally
sites. The figure, according to PNP chief Avelino Razon,
includes those who will perform normal police functions.
Police contingent forces from Regions 3
(Southern Tagalog) and 4A (Calabarzon – Batangas, Cavite,
Laguna, Quezon and Rizal) have been placed on standby.
Esperon stressed the military would not
intervene in the political crisis. He said political problems,
particularly the renewed calls for President Arroyo’s
resignation because of alleged payoffs in the national
broadband network project, should be left to the politicians
and the courts.
"The Armed Forces firmly believes that we
should not intervene or join such extralegal activities
because when the Armed Forces joins, the country will lose
what we achieved in Edsa I which is democracy and democratic
way of life," he said.
Esperon belied text messages that said some
military units have switched sides.
"We want to deny that because the Armed
Forces of the Philippines is solid in following and adhering
to the chain of command, from the squad up to the
commander-in-chief," he said.
Maj. Gen. Michael Mendoza, Air Force vice
commander, belied talks the Air Force would lead the defection
of the major services of the Armed Forces.
The text messages that circulated Saturday
said there would be a new president today.
Mendoza also belied talks that Air Force
chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog was absent in the conference
because the latter has defected.
He said Cadungog was at Villamor Air Base
to assist President Arroyo after her visit to Samar.
The Air Force had been at the forefront of
two previous "people power" revolts. In 1986, the defection of
its then commanding general, Gen. Antonio Sotelo who brought
his helicopters to Camp Aguinaldo from Villamor Air Base,
turned the tide for those opposing the Marcos regime.
Mendoza, who said he was part of Sotelo’s
group, said there is a big difference between now and then.
"When we turned against Marcos, there was a
spontaneous response of everyone in the PAF to defect," he
said adding those who were not informed earlier of the
defection were mad because they had been itching to do so.
Now, he said, "there is no feeling of
spontaneity."
Razon said suggestions for the military and
the PNP to intervene are "totally uncalled for" and seen as an
"insult" to members of the police and military as dignified
professionals.
"We in the PNP will not get ourselves involved in politics,
much less in political intervention in the affairs of the
state," Razon said. – With Jay Chua
