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When there’s smoke, there’s fire.
“Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Thursday, February 12, revealed that she has received information that ‘leaders of certain groups’ are hatching a coup d’etat plot against President Noynoy Aquino,” reports ANC.
The report noted: “Santiago said the alleged coup plan — which is riding on the public outrage over the January 25 Mamasapano encounter that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers dead — has the financial backing of the ‘richest man in the Philippines, who is known to fund coups in the past.'”
While Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirmed receiving the reports of a possible coup plot, he said he is still verifying the information.
For their part, Malacañang said they are “not bothered by a reported coup plot.” In fact, they said they have not received reports about it.
Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma said in Filipino, “It’s the duty of the AFP to purge the enemies of the state. Secretary Gazmin himself has guranteed that the AFP is ready to do its duty.”
The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Both the government and the MILF are currently doing probes on the Mamsapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal.
Photo: GMA News documentary
