Manila closes radio stations after new coup warning

Press, 8 October 1987, Page 6

Manila closes radio stations after new coup warning

NZPA-Reuter Manila Three Manila radio stations were closed down yesterday following a warning from the Armed Forces chief that the Philippine Government will face a new coup attempt within a month.

General Fidel Ramos said a coalition of groups opposed to President Corazon Aquino would mount the coup. A presidential spokesman, Teodoro Benigno, told reporters General Ramos had suggested loyal troops might not be strong enough to stop the rebellion, which would have strong political backing. In a related move, the Government said it would close three Manila radio stations and formally warn another. Senior officials said the Administration was secure, but deployed armoured vehicles outside

the Presidential palace, where soldiers in sandbagged machine gun posts stood guard. The executive secretary, Catalino Macaraig, said the Government was confident that it could withstand the new threat, the latest in a month and a half of continuing political turmoil. "The situation is still normal. It Is short of a national emergency,” he told reporters. Mr Benigno said General Ramos told a Cabinet meeting that the new rebel alliance would bring back the former president, Ferdinand Marcos, if the coup was successful.

He said General Ramos had “by Implication” linked the opposition leader, Juan Ponce Enrile, with the alliance which included renegade troops, former Marcos allies, and Mr Enrile’s Grand Alliance for Democracy party. The closing of radio stations DZEC, DZME, DZXL and the warning of the mass-audience DZRH followed soon after the Government served notice that it would take steps to end a propaganda war by rebel officers plotting to overthrow Mrs Aquino. No details were given but a senior security

official said the steps would stop short of censorship. DZEC and DZME frequently broadcast proMarcos messages and interviews with Mr Marcos, who ran the Philippines for 20 years. "The Government has a perfect right to defend Itself from its enemies,” Mr Benigno said. Political analysts noted that General Ramos’s statement followed moves by Mr Enrile and VicePresident Salvador Laurel to establish a Right-wing coalition opposing Mrs Aquino. They said the

prediction that Mr Marcos, could be returned to power may be “scare tactics” designed to increase support for the administration. The moves came as reporters said one renegade officer had held a press conference inside a major United States air* base north of Manila, and another coup leader gave a 90-minute television interview. Lt Colonel Reynaldo Cabauatan spoke to Filipino reporters late on Tuesday, vowing to launch another coup at the same time the military said it had thwarted a revolt by arresting 20 of his followers.