DESTABILIZATION TRY: MAGDALO OFFICERS SIGHTED RECRUITING IN BICOL
LEGAZPI CITY, AUGUST 31, 2007 (STAR) Two renegade military officers have been sighted in Bicol recruiting soldiers for another attempt to destabilize the government, the region’s police director said yesterday.However, Senior Superintendent Balligi Agnanayon Tira, Bicol police officer-in-charge, did not say in what province the Magdalo soldiers have been spotted.
Tira’s jurisdiction covers the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.
Quoting intelligence reports, Tira said the rebel officers were monitored touring the various police camps in the region.
“They could be here for a purpose and possibly to recruit new members for another destabilization,” he said after the Regional Peace and Order Council meeting at Camp General Simeon Ola yesterday.
“I have ordered our provincial police directors in Bicol’s six provinces to closely monitor their activities.”
Tira said policemen in Bicol will fight any group that attempts to launch another coup against the administration of President Arroyo.
“We support the Philippine National Police in rallying behind President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and we are ready to thwart all anti-government forces either from the rightist, leftist or extreme groups that will try to destabilize the government,” he said.
“It is incumbent upon policemen to enforce the law and deliver other public safety services in a manner that not only preserves but also extends precious Filipino values. We must not only respect but also protect the rights guaranteed to each citizen by the Constitution and our laws.” – Celso Amo, Cecille Suerte Felipe
Gov’t accused of fabricating charges vs Erap Friday, August 31, 2007
(STAR) A lawyer accused yesterday the administration of fabricating the evidence against ousted President Joseph Estrada in his plunder case before the Sandiganbayan.
In a 24-page Manifestation in Intervention, Cirilo Avila told the special division that President Arroyo had taken part in a grand conspiracy to hide the truth so Estrada would remain in detention.
“With the full knowledge of PGMA of this conspiracy, she then personally orchestrated, obstructed and prevented the truth on this conspiracy to come out,” he said.
Avila said in the book “The Dark Conspiracy,” author Federico Manrique, a member of the anti-crime advocate Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), narrated incidents of “fabrications and manipulations,” and how the public was made to believe that the accusations against Estrada were true.
“This book will name names of all the conspirators and their respective roles,” he said.
The book revealed two conspiracies concocted by known personalities, he added.
Manrique, an old acquaintance, told him all about the alleged conspiracy to frame Estrada while they were discussing the circumstances behind the relocation of Manrique’s entire family to Canada “under diplomatic status,” Avila said.
Manrique could not be reached for comment about Avila’s allegations. – Sandy Araneta
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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