‘Anti-Arroyo generals to surface by end-February’

Even as police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams now patrol Metro Manila, renegade soldiers who escaped from military custody continued to play mind games with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. A member of the Magdalo group said Monday that at least 10 military generals supporting their cause are due to surface before the end of February and withdraw support from Arroyo. "Baka bago matapos ang February, o pagkatapos ng February lalantad at lalantad ang 10 na yan. Di retired, active (Before the end of February, the 10 will surface. They are not retired but are in the active service)," Lt. Lawrence San Juan said in a radio interview. San Juan also said "negotiations" are ongoing for a similar "arrangement" with active generals in the Philippine National Police (PNP). He refused to name names for the moment, but said the 10 military generals are not on floating status. "Maganda ang position nila (They occupy juicy posts)," he said of the generals. But he said the 10 generals will come out only after the Magdalo group or their supporters get the ball rolling. The interview was marked with several beeping sounds, which San Juan said may be a sign that military intelligence operatives were monitoring radio interview by tapping his phone line. On the other hand, he confirmed reports that the Magdalos were at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) last week, and that PMA officials had the barracks raided shortly after he met with a reporter from television station GMA-7. "Gulat kami bakit nalaman nandoon kami, isang media lang tinawagan naming, GMA lang. Nag-surveillance nga sila. Buti di kami natyempuhan (We were surprised how the PMA knew we were there. It confirmed we are under surveillance. It was good that we already left before the raid)," he said. On the other hand, San Juan denied "financial" connections between the Magdalo and retired military officers, including former senator Gregorio Honasan and Senator Panfilo Lacson. Honasan and Lacson belong to PMA Class ’71. "Walang sumusuporta sa amin na heneral na retired ng financial. Sariling bulsa namin ito (No retired general is supporting us. What we do is out of our own pockets)," he said. San Juan reiterated that the Magdalo group enjoys the support of fellows in the military, as shown by their escape last January. He said they could not have escaped without inside help. "Ang gusto naming mangyari ang pagbabago sa bayan at maibalik ang tiwala ng mamamayan. At ang kaso namin handa naming harapin (What we want is change, to restore the people's trust. Once that happens, we will face the charges lodged against us)," he said when asked about the group's plans should they succeed in toppling Arroyo.-GMANEWS.TV