Philippines Turmoil Marks Anniversary of Marcos Ouster

ALEX CHADWICK, host:

This is DAY TO DAY. I'm Alex Chadwick.

The Philippines is under a state of emergency. President Gloria Arroyo says her opponents have been plotting a coup attempt. The Associated Press reports at least one army general is under arrest, and that some military camps are in lockdown to prevent soldiers joining street protests.

NPR's Michael Sullivan is in Manila.

Michael, was there an actual coup attempt?

MICHAEL SULLIVAN reporting:

Well, there was something that was certainly planned for today. I don't how far they actually got with it. But it's clear, as you mentioned, that one general was definitely arrested. And they're searching for a lot of other military people, and some former military people, and some politicians who the government says all were planning this thing together.

CHADWICK: So there, it's a range of people? Who would attempt a coup against President Arroyo?

SULLIVAN: A lot of them are lower level military officers unhappy with the way things have been going in the country. And then there's the political opposition, of course, who don't like her just because they're the opposition. But there's a lot of people who don't like her because they think that she stole the 2004 presidential election. And they want her gone.

CHADWICK: This coup attempt, this state of emergency, all this comes on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the uprising that led to the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos, the long time Philippine leader. Dictator, many would say. Give us a sense of what happened in the marches leading up to this.

SULLIVAN: Well, I mean clearly everyone wanted to capitalize on this. I mean this was the major event in the last half-century for the Philippinos, I think, the 1986 revolution, the People Power Revolution that got rid of Marcos. And tomorrow is actually the day that Marcos fled, so I anticipate there'll be more people out in the streets tomorrow, even though under the state of emergency President Arroyo's chief of staff says that unauthorized demonstrations won't be allowed. But there were plenty of demonstrators in the streets today trying to capitalize on this, or trying to at least mark the event.

And former President Corazon Aquino, one of the icons of the People Power Revolution, called on the President Arroyo to, as former President Aquino put it, Make the supreme sacrifice and step down. And this is, Mrs. Aquino is clearly in the camp of those who think Arroyo is past her sell-by date.

CHADWICK: Well, is opposition rallying around former President Aquino? Is she really going to lead the opposition?

SULLIVAN: She's not going to lead the opposition, but the opposition clearly likes having her around. And here's the problem with the opposition in the Philippines at this point. They are fragmented. They do not have one leader that they can rally around, like they rallied around Corazon Aquino 20 years ago. That person just isn't around right now. And that's been one of the problems for the opposition here. A lot of people don't like President Arroyo. A lot of people think she's corrupt. A lot of people think that she stole the election.

But a lot of people say, Okay, she may not be that great but what's the alternative? And I think that's one of the reasons why you haven't seen any People Power protests to bring President Arroyo down to date. Like you saw the one that brought down Marcos, or like you saw the one in 2001 that brought down another corrupt president, President Estrada here. Both were done with the backing of the people. Both were done with the backing of the military. That hasn't happened yet with President Arroyo.

But I think we maybe at what the Philippinos like to call the tipping point. I mean, they're waiting for this sort of harmonic convergence, for all these things to come together. And they might be starting to come together now at the point of the 20th anniversary.

NPR's Michael Sullivan in Manila.

Michael, thank you.

SULLIVAN: You're welcome, Alex.

CHADWICK: And this note, the wire services are also reporting that the rescue teams who've been looking for survivors of the landslide, a week ago in the Philippines, have now called off their search.

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