THE region’s top police officers yesterday denied any knowledge of a brewing plot to overthrow the government.
Both Chief Supt. Prudencio Bañas, the regional police chief and his deputy, Senior Supt. Conrad Capa, said despite the crisis hounding the Philippine National Police, they remain loyal to the Republic.
The two officials were reacting to the confirmation made before a Senate hearing Thursday by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin after he was asked by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago to confirm reports of a coup plot against President
Aquino in the wake of the killing of 44 police commandos by Moro rebels that had caused tension in the military and police ranks.
“For me, I can speak for myself, wala namang balita dito na nasagap tayo tungkol diyan. Nobody has approached me, nobody has recruited me,” Bañas said.
He added that he was recently with Lt. Gen. Nicanor Vibar, commanding general of the military’s Central Command, and they never discussed such a report.
“We remain loyal to the Republic, our country and our people,” Bañas said. “Continue ang trabaho namin sa hanay ng PNP in law enforcement and sa AFP sa responsibilities nila sa internal security operations,” the police official added.
Capa, who is also acting chief of police of Cebu City, echoed the PRO-7 chief’s statement, saying the members of the PNP remain loyal to the Constitution.
“We stand behind the Constitution. We will always be loyal to duly-constituted authorities,” he said, adding that reports of a coup plot were merely based on raw unsubstantiated information.
“As far as we are concerned here in Region 7, we have not monitored anything,” he added.
As a young constabulary lieutenant assigned to the Narcotics Command when the Cory Aquino government was nearly overthrown by right-wing rebel soldiers in 1989, Capa joined the likes of Avelino Razon (a former PNP chief who also served as director of PRO-7), Noli Taliño (current SAF commander) and then Tourism Undersecretary Rafael Alunan III in defending the government.
The killing of 44 SAF troopers has sparked outrage and brought on calls for President Aquino’s resignation. Claims that the military failed to immediately respond to frantic calls for assistance to the beleaguered SAF troopers in Mamasapano exposed a rift between the military and police that surfaced during this week’s congressional hearings.
Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., PNP spokesman, sought to downplay reports of a coup plot but acknowledged the “volatile emotions” of the policemen.
“The PNP is sad because of what happened, we are in a state of mourning. But we have our own work. We will achieve nothing if we use that option (of a coup d’état), because that would destroy what the SAF policemen wanted to achieve,” Cerbo said in a news briefing in Camp Crame.
He said the PNP was confident of the professionalism of its men and women and that there was no need for a loyalty check. He appealed to the 150,000-strong force to await the outcome of investigations conducted by the board of inquiry on the carnage.
“We hope the results of the investigation will defuse the volatile emotions,” Cerbo said.
A senior police intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said certain personalities, including a politician, had been talking to “disgruntled” police officers. The officer declined to give details, saying the PNP was still verifying information.
Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, AFP spokesman, appealed to the public “not to glorify these attempts to divide our nation.”
“We assure the public that the AFP and the PNP are all dedicated professionals whose sole interest is to keep the peace and security of our country,” he said.
“Our soldiers will continuously support the government in helping solve our country’s problems instead of becoming part of the problem,” he added.
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