First it was Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, tipping reporters of what was shared with him by the military’s intelligence agents. "I believe it’s an assessment of our intelligence services. There’s a possibility that there may be destabilization by various threat groups."

Armed Forces Chief Hermo-genes Esperon Jr. added to it saying, "Some people, especially those with delusions of grandeur, will always plan things. They never give up."

As always, Esperon boasts of being always ready to repel forces that will attempt to oust the administration of Arroyo that was installed in 2001 by a military-backed mob. "I must tell you that the resolution will even be quicker this time. If they move, they will see that a stronger force will stop them," Esperon said referring to the Nov. 29 incident that took them more than six hours and an armored tank crashing into the Manila Peninsula lobby to end the standoff staged by less than 20 military officers that have been in detention for four years.

But the one that really takes the cake is PNP chief Avelino Razon Jr.’s statement that they are monitoring 10 of the 53 Magdalo junior officers released from detention last December 20 for allegedly working on a new destabilization activity.

But Razon himself said they have no evidence. "We have to gather evidence. We are verifying reports that are coming out. If we have evidence, then we will arrest [them] he said."

What kind of police chief is this? He is still in the process of looking for evidence and he goes around announcing to the nation that ten officers, just out of a four-year detention, are engaged in destabilizing the fake president.

We believe that Razon’s report, which he himself said has not been verified yet is aimed at isolating Trillanes and the rest of the Magdalo officers detained in Camp Crame. It’s understandable that with that news report, freed Magdalo officers who would like to visit their leaders would have second thoughts for fear that they would be implicated in another coup that Arroyo’s men are cooking up.

They are also doing the same to Brig. Gen. Danny Lim. Immediately after last Christmas, on the order of Makati RTC Judge Elmo Alameda who is hearing the Manila Pen rebellion case, Lim was brought back to Camp Capinpin in Tanay where he has been in detention for almost two years in connection with the alleged withdrawal of support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006.

But hardly had he warmed his seat there when he was informed that there was an order by Esperon for him to be brought back to Metro Manila, this time to the high-security ISAFP compound in Camp Aguinaldo. Esperon used as reason the investigation of the Manila Pen incident to be conducted by the AFP provost marshal, Col. Arthur Abadilla.

Abadilla justified Lim’s detention at the ISAFP compound saying it’s for "expediency and his security." Lim, however, refused to participate in the military inquiry.

Atty. Vicente Verdadero, Lim’s lawyer, was able to stop the "illegal transfer" to ISAFP of his client. Alameda ordered that Lim be brought back to the PNP Custodial Center where he has been detained since Nov. 29 together with Trillanes and 16 other fellow Manila Pen "rebels".

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel is not perturbed by the "coup floats." He suspects that those are designed to convince Arroyo to extend the term of Esperon who is retiring next month. Our usual reliable Malacañang sources say Arroyo’s inclination right now is not to extend Esperon. A number of her advisers think the resentment and demoralization that the extension of Esperon’s term would cause outweigh the advantage of his dogged loyalty.

That’s for now. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the coming days or weeks that could make Esperon indispensable. In that context, there are suspicions that statements from government officials about coup plots are not legitimate information but rather a justification for an undertaking they are planning.

If it’s destabilization that Arroyo and her minions are looking for, all they have to do is look at the mirror. They will see people who prostitute the electoral process, undermine the justice system, destroy the govern-ment’s check and balance mechanism, and ransack the government coffers. They are the real destabilizers.

There was a vibrant discussion in my blog (www.ellentor-desillas.com) on my column last Monday: "PAF S-211: Missing or shot down in Spratlys?"

One blogger registering under the name Fat4eyes dished out an angry comment describing the column as "the dumbest, misinformed, implausible and sensationalist piece of crap that I have seen recently."

He said, "First of all, if a claimant country in the Spratlys did shoot down the jet the news would be all over their media as it would be good propaganda: they can claim that they defended their righteous claim on the Spratlys against the belligerent intrusions of the Philippine Air Force. There have been no such declarations by the other claimants in the Spratlys, even though they have previously been very vocal about any intrusion, even by fishing boats.

"Secondly, the fact that they were flying at a low altitude leads to a more credible explanation to the loss of the aircraft: a failure (by the airplane or the pilot) or unexpected turbulence that the pilot was unable to correct in time. Airplanes flying at jet speeds (greater than 400 kph) at low altitudes have only seconds to correct for any problems. It’s a simple matter of math: divide 1000 feet (300 meters) by the speed of descent of a fighter plane (say 50 meters/second or about 200 kph) and you see that the pilot would have less that 6 seconds to correct any problem before the airplane crashes into the sea. A pilot trying to correct such a problem at low altitude would have no time (nor inclination: maki-kipagdaldalan ka pa ba kung 6 seconds lang e sasalpak na sa dagat yung eroplano mo?) to radio his status to the lead plane before crashing.

"Lastly, as others in here have pointed out, the S2-11 is not as sophisticated or reliable as the article would have you think. Here’s some information on the S2-11’s history with the PAF: http://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/s211.htm . From the start accidents have plagued the S2-11 which led to the cancellation of further orders.

"What I see from this article is not a belligerence of the other claimants in the Spratlys but an irresponsible columnist trying to dredge up something newsworthy on a slow news day."

Another blogger, Klingon, raised a more disturbing fact: the pathetic state of our Air Force. "I’m from an Air Force family, and I hate to say this, but as far as alternate theories go, Fat4eyes does have a point. In crash investigations, we must allow ourselves to look at all possibilities. His statement that the shoot down could not have been a belligerent act by foreign elements rings true, but is incomplete. It could also have been an accidental shoot down. In which case, the foreign country will deny all knowledge of the same.

"The real scandal here is the state of the Philippine Air Force. As AdeBrux has said, ‘all air, no force.’ Both the insurgency and external security depend in great part on our capability to provide air support and air defense. As things stand we are so helpless, we can’t even find our own pilots when they crash, without seeking the help of the US. How pathetic is that?"