Friday, February 17, 2006
Philippine Overthrow Plot Uncovered
Coups d'Etat are one of the most conspicuous types of political skullduggery.
The Philippine government and armed forces said they were containing a plot to overthrow and perhaps even kill President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by fugitive mutineers backed by retired officers and opposition figures."Everything is under control," Col. Tristan Kison, the armed forces spokesman, said on the radio Friday. He said extra security was in place and the justice department was investigating.
"We discovered that there are some who are recruiting, but I cannot tell you who they are," he said. "Knowing and proving are different things."
Last year, Arroyo survived a political crisis, including an impeachment attempt, over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption. Security concerns are also running high as the country celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Feb. 25 "people power" revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
A mudslide triggered by two weeks of heavy rain crashed through a village in the central Philippines on Friday, leaving about 1,500 people missing and hundreds feared dead...
Rescue workers were particularly alarmed about the fate of students at the elementary school in Guisahugon village, which was in session when a swath of the nearby mountainside collapsed at about 9 a.m. Officials said they believed about 200 youngsters were inside along with their principal and six teachers.
The landslide leveled most of the surrounding community, burying at least 350 homes and leaving only a few twisted chunks of corrugated metal poking above the mud, which emergency workers said was up to 30 feet deep in some places. Two other nearby villages were also damaged...
When rescue efforts were suspended at nightfall because of darkness and a continuing downpour, emergency teams had retrieved only 23 victims. The Red Cross reported that about 1,500 people were unaccounted for...
The Philippines is frequently buffeted by floods and heavy rain, especially typhoons that pound the archipelago on an average of 20 times a year. A string of storms in 2004 left 1,800 people dead or missing in an area northeast of Manila.
