MANILA, Philippines — Malacanang is anticipating a suspected coup d'etat against President Rodrigo Duterte, stemming from dissent on his war against the illegal drug trade and the first impeachment case filed by a Magdalo representative.
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| (photos from AFP and Ben Nabong of Rappler) |
The House justice committee on Monday has decided to junk the impeachment complaint filed by Gary Alejano against Duterte. He denied the accusation that he is a part of the destabilization plot.
Alejano is a lawmaker from the Magdalo partylist, known for staging a mutiny on 2003 alongside Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and other Marine, Navy, Air Force, and Army soldiers and officers against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
In the Fifth Republic, two out of six presidents faced major coup d'etat attempts.
Cory Aquino
Democratic leader Corazon Aquino, after succeeding the Marcos regime, faced nine coup d'etat attempts from various factions. Marcos loyalist groups, military generals, and political personalities like Gringo Honasan and Juan Ponce Enrile attempted to seize power from her administration.
- Takeover of the Manila Hotel (6-8 July 1986)
Marcos loyalists protested at the Quirino Grandstand four months after Aquino took over the presidency. Military men proceeded to the Manila Hotel and, in a premeditated execution of plans, occupied it to declare a new government.
Arturo Tolentino, vice presidential running mate of Marcos in the 1986 elections, declared himself as the new president. He claimed that the exiled Marcos wrote him a letter, permitting him to lead the country.
The coup d'etat waned after Enrile and Fidel Ramos reiterated their support of Aquino, and after her ultimatum to the rebels. Loyalists also failed in their objective to garner public support to further establish their cause, as Filipinos did not heed their call at the time.
It ended without casualties.
- "God Save The Queen" (22-23 November 1986)
Four months after the Manila Hotel incident, Gringo Honasan's faction of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) planned to nullify the 1987 snap elections and recreate the government.
Their goal was to raid Malacanang and force Aquino to vest presidential powers to them. RAM and Marcos loyalists intend to occupy the Batasang Pambansa building and summon the existing parliament prior to the EDSA Revolution.
They wanted to insinuate another round of elections.
However, their plan was neutralized when Malacanang discovered about the plot. This gave the government a head start to thwart the coup attempt.
Aside from the growing tension from extreme Marcos loyalists' activities, then Defense Minister Enrile voiced out concerns over Aquino's soft approach towards the insurgency woes and he was losing trust in the government. He was allegedly involved in the coup plot.
It resulted in Aquino revamping her Cabinet and removing Enrile.
- Three-day siege on GMA-7 (27-29 January 1987)
As Aquino's counterinsurgency policies remained unsatisfactory, Marcos loyalists, AFP soldiers, and other military men loyal to Enrile intended to restore the power of Marcos.
They claimed that only Marcos can solve the country's problems such as the growing communist agenda, and how communists are able to access sensitive government positions. They also raised issues on how the government treated the military, especially the Marcos loyalists.
Among those who were involved in the coup attempt was the Guardians Brotherhood Inc. (GBI), most of which also participated in the takeover of the Manila Hotel.
Honasan and other Philippine Military Academy (PMA) officers petitioned for a major reform in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a stronger stand against communism. They also plead for soldiers who support Marcos to receive equal treatment.
A few days later, the 1987 Constitution was ratified.
- "Black Saturday Incident" (18 April 1987)
Other than insurgency woes, power outages and water shortages plagued the country. Plans to establish a junta and bring the presidency back to Marcos continued once more.
The Guardians, an anti-communist and pro-Marcos organization, and other military personnel rammed through Fort Bonifacio. Their mission was to release 108 military men who mostly participated in the siege of the GMA-7 compound. However, less than half of those detained joined their cause.
The exchange of gunfire between the military and the mutineers ended when the latter realized they were outnumbered and outgunned.
One mutineer died in the gunfight that ensued.
- Manila International Airport (MIA) takeover plot (July 1987)
Another military takeover plan was discovered before it happened, just like what happened in the "God Save The Queen" plot.
In a taped conversation, the exiled Marcos reportedly wanted to purchase European ammunition and weaponry to invade the country. He later explained that it was needed in preparation for the possibility of communists taking over Philippines.
Another plan included attacking MIA and holding foreigners as hostage to repel offensives from government troops, and then attacking the Villamor Air Base to disable military aircraft.
- Honasan and RAM attack (28-29 August 1987)
Militant labor unions and student organizations held a Welgang Bayan on August 26 due to oil price hikes.
Similar to the November 1986 coup attempt, RAM's Honasan Faction (HF) will not only takeover Malacanang but also media stations and military bases.
They will use the television and radio stations to communicate their propaganda to the public and gain their support. It would also degrade the government if they successfully conquered the Palace and Camp Aguinaldo.
As rebel soldiers attacked Malacanang, Noynoy Aquino's convoy was intercepted and an estimated three members of the Presidential Security Guard (PSG) was killed. Alan Purisima was reported to have been beside Cory's son during the incident.
53 people died in the simultaneous rebel attack on eight major areas of conflict, which included PTV-4 and the Villamor Air Base.
This coup attempt damaged the reputation of the rebels, as 200 wounded included civilian bystanders who jeered at them and supported government troops.
Due to the clamor against the oil price hikes, the rebels thought they could utilize the massive discontentment to gain support from the public.
- Planes bomb Malacanang (1-9 December 1989)
Gregorio Honasan was reportedly the principal manager, and groups implicated in previous coup plots returned. RAM-HF and Guardians' forces took part in the nine-day coup d'etat.
When the rebels captured Sangley Point, they piloted Tora-Tora aircrafts to bomb the Malacanang complex and other military camps. Provinces are also affected by separate rebellious activities.
Participants from the rebel side also expressed reasons why the coup occurred. They claimed that the government treated the military and CPP-NPA who committed human rights violations unevenly, as well as the presence of graft and corruption.
Meanwhile, government forces shared the sentiments of the rebels. They also believed that the younger officers of the rebels embraced naive idealism. They cited the desire of coup leaders to regain the privileges they enjoyed when Marcos was in power.
At least 50 civilians were killed in action and 239 were wounded.
- Hotel Delfino siege (4-5 March 1990)
On the way to Tuguegarao to serve an arrest warrant, Brigadier General Oscar Florendo and his group was taken hostage in Hotel Delfino.
Rodolfo Aguinaldo was charged with rebellion and murder in regards to the December 1989 coup d'etat.
Florendo and other government officials who were staying at the hotel died after a four-hour battle between government troops and Aguinaldo's armed followers.
- Danilo Lim's coup (4-6 October 1990)
Mutineers led by Danilo Lim raided an army base in southern Mindanao, lasting for only two days.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
The second Edsa revolution that deposed Joseph Estrada was allegedly a coup d'etat masked only as a massive public demonstration. Though highly debated, it resulted in then Vice President Arroyo taking over the presidency.
- Oakwood Mutiny (27 July 2003)
An estimated 300 soldiers of the Magdalo group led by Antonio Trillanes IV occupied the Oakwood Premiere, claiming that Arroyo is set to declare Martial Law after a series of bombings in Metro Manila will be blamed on opposition groups.
The Magdalo Group accused the government of attributing the planned bombings in Davao to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) so that the United States heeds to Arroyo's call for more anti-terrorist support.
They also pointed out corruption in the government and in the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP), as well as the alleged procurement of arms and ammunition for insurgent groups like MILF, Abu Sayyaf, and the New People's Army (NPA).
These prompted them to barricade inside Oakwood for 20 hours and demand the resignation of Arroyo and other officials.
In response, former president Arroyo declared a "state of rebellion" and encouraged to use reasonable force to neutralize the renegade junior military officers.
Without resorting to violence, then marine captain Gary Alejano accompanied Trillanes and other Magdalo members in a negotiation with the government thus ending the bloodless mutiny.
- Manila Peninsula siege (29 November 2007)
Antonio Trillanes III, Danilo Lim, and 13 Magdalo members stormed out during a trial at the Makati City court.
Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and others joined them as they marched the streets of Makati City. They were later assisted by armed soldiers before the entourage occupied the Manila Peninsula and held a press conference.
Soldiers attacked the group despite the presence of remaining civilians and media inside. Trillanes and Lim decided to surrender to avoid casualties in the ensued gunfight.
(Rappler X: [News Setting] How many coup d'etats did we face?)
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