State of emergency bites after foiled Philippine coup

Suspected coup plotters were hauled in for questioning and the office of an opposition newspaper was raided in the Philippines yesterday, a day after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency.

But Manila's streets were calm, in sharp contrast to the chaotic scenes 20 years to the day when one million people stood up to army tanks on the EDSA highway, forcing dictator Ferdinand Marcos to flee in a celebrated "people power" revolt.

Arroyo, who survived a crisis last year over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, invoked emergency rule on Friday, citing a "systematic conspiracy" against her by members of the opposition, communists and "military adventurists".

The indefinite state of emergency dented investor sentiment, with the peso falling one per cent to 52.20 to the dollar on Friday. But Arroyo, an economist who has pushed reform to cut the state's debts, moved to restore confidence in her leadership. Former police chief Ramon Montano and leftist congressman Crispin Beltran were taken in for questioning, and Lomibao said he had a list of other targets that was topped by former senator Gregorio Honasan, hailed as a hero in the overthrow of Marcos.

About a dozen army and airforce lieutenants turned themselves in to senior commanders yesterday, the first apparent admission that there was a plan to destabilise the Arroyo government. Arroyo cited biased local reporting in her decision to invoke emergency rule, and yesterday police raided a pro-opposition newspaper before dawn while troops were sent to watch over the country's two main broadcasters, ABS-CBN and GMA7.

The Daily Tribune editor, Ninez Cacho-Olivares, said the newspaper would continue to publish despite police confiscating copies from the printing press and padlocking the office. The National Union of Journalists called a news conference for today to protest against a warning that media organisations could be closed for reporting of sensitive military details.