BY VICTOR REYES

THE Armed Forces paraded thousands of its troops and battle tanks inside military installations in Metro Manila, including at the general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, in an apparent show of force against rightist and terrorist elements.

AFP chief Gen. Alexander Yano said the formation and inspection of the troops is a "routine activity."

But the simultaneous formations at Camp Aguinaldo, the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Air Force headquarters in Villamor Air Base, Navy headquarters in Manila, and at the Marines headquarters in Taguig followed a new call by detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim for the ouster of President Arroyo.

Lim issued the call Thursday, two days before the first anniversary of the Manila Peninsula Hotel standoff in which he joined Sen. Antonio Trillanes in holding out for about six hours at the hotel.

During the standoff, Lim called the Gloria Arroyo presidency "illegitimate."

Lim and Trillanes, a former Navy officer involved in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, are detained in Camp Crame, the PNP headquarters which is across Camp Aguinaldo.

Lim and 27 other Army and Marine officers led by former Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda were also implicated in the alleged attempt to overthrow the Arroyo government in February 2006.

In Camp Aguinaldo, Yano told the soldiers not to allow themselves to be distracted by the "political events that’s happening around us."

In an interview later, Yano was asked if the formation was related to Lim’s call. He said: "Not necessarily. I have not heard about that call. As I’ve said earlier, it is a routine inventory or accounting of troops to evaluate their readiness and course in anticipation of the recent events not necessarily in our country but in other regions in the world and specifically Thailand and in India."

Maj. Gen. Arsenio Arugay, chief of the AFP National Capital Region Command who was with Yano in Camp Aguinaldo, said the soldiers were gathered to show their resolve to be the "defenders of the Filipino people."

The NCR command was re-established shortly after the Oakwood mutiny in 2003.

Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman, said personnel were surprised, as they should be, by the formation and inspection order. The Navy has administrative control over the Marines, a lot of whose men were involved in past destabilization moves.

"The activity shouldn’t cause undue alarm. It’s merely an exercise meant to determine the PN’s true state of readiness. It came as a surprise to everybody but that’s exactly the intent of the exercise. Give prior notice and you defeat its purpose," said Arevalo.

Brig. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, chief of the Special Operations Command (Socom), said none of his men would join Lim.

Socom has control over the Special Forces Regiment, the US-trained Light Reaction Battalion, and the Scout Rangers Regiment which Lim had headed.

The PNP Airport Security Group gave the assurance there would be no airport takeover like in Thailand.

Chief Supt. Edwin Corvera, PNP ASG chief, said adequate security personnel are guarding airport with the help of the Metro Manila police, the Manila International Airport Authority, and the Air Force.