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  1. Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    #1
    US Embassy report linked Ramos to plot
    Other officers cited in Arroyo ouster by June

    First posted 02:19am (Mla time) Oct 28, 2005
    By Norman Bordadora
    Inquirer News Service

    EARLY on in the year, the US Embassy in Manila received information linking former President Fidel Ramos to reports of a supposed planned coup against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

    According to an embassy report dated Feb. 24, 2005, and prepared before the "Jueteng-gate" and "Hello, Garci" scandals erupted, Ramos gave his former national security adviser, Jose Almonte, until June to implement the plan against the President.

    At that time, the questions of legitimacy and integrity leveled at Ms Arroyo involved only the dismissed election protest of the late opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. and the persistent allegations of fraud in the 2004 polls.

    "Most disturbingly, sensitive reports maintained that former President Ramos continues a series of meetings with Forces (Federation of Retired Commissioned and Enlisted Soldiers)," the report said.

    It added: "[Forces], which includes many ex-members of Ramos' former Cabinet, including former Budget Secretary Salvador Enriquez, former Defense Secretary Fortunato Abat, and... Almonte, is mostly just a springboard for Ramos' conspiratorial hints of a forthcoming coup attempt."

    Ramos, who helped install Ms Arroyo as president in January 2001 and "saved" her from ouster in July 2005, is currently on an official trip to Guangdong, China. He is expected back on Oct. 29.

    The report did not carry the name of the embassy official who prepared the document. A copy of it was provided by the same source of the US files that were the subject of a special report by the Inquirer last month.

    The files are believed to be among those pilfered by Filipino-American Leandro Aragoncillo from Federal Bureau of Investigation computers and forwarded to opposition personalities and groups here.

    'Increased rhetoric'

    The February 2005 report mentioned Enriquez as a member of Forces, but only Abat and Almonte were influential generals in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

    One of the original members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, or RAM, Almonte is believed to maintain considerable clout among military officers.

    Abat, on the other hand, has been constant in calling for Ms Arroyo's resignation.

    "According to the source, Ramos has issued a deadline to Almonte to implement the plan by June 2005," the report said.

    But it said Ramos' "increased rhetoric" was not supported by anti-Arroyo sentiments among active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

    "Ramos will likely increase the pressure [and the] severity of his allegations in the coming months to compel [the President] to resign," it added.

    Crying 'Wolf!' scenario

    The report was prepared only a week after the Valentine's Day bombings, but no mention was made of the attacks.

    It dwelt mainly on coup reports and how they had become so commonplace as to give rise to the "boy who cried wolf" scenario.

    "Anti-Arroyo dissenters within the ranks do exist, but they are a shadow of the politically charged and numerous members of RAM-YOU (Revolutionary Nationalist Alliance-Reform the Armed Forces Movement-Young Officers Union) which existed a decade ago," the report said.

    It said Abat and former Constabulary chief Ramon Montaño -- whom it both linked to Ramos -- had called for Ms Arroyo's resignation.

    "According to intelligence reports, these same individuals have repeatedly asked the active military to oust Arroyo," the report said, adding:

    "The retired officers, endorsed by ... Ramos, claim they are exercising their right as citizens to criticize the President."

    Charter change

    Ramos has been proposing that Ms Arroyo step down next year preparatory to Charter change and a shift to a parliamentary form of government.

    He first aired the proposal on July 8, when 10 key government officials quit their posts and called on Ms Arroyo to do the same, and Senate President Franklin Drilon and former President Corazon Aquino publicly urged Ms Arroyo to resign.

    On October 20, Ramos again pressed his call for Ms Arroyo to cut short her six-year term.

    He clarified that his call for Ms Arroyo to cut short her term "is for a certain purpose," referring to the shift to a parliamentary system.

    "I am not saying resign. (It's) cut short her term. What's the difference with resign? You want her to resign tomorrow but that's not possible. What will that bring?" Ramos said.

    He wants Ms Arroyo to step down next year.

    Instead of a snap election reportedly being pushed by El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde and Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Ramos reiterated his call for Charter change that would lead to a shift to a parliamentary form of government and electoral reforms.

  2. Join Date
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    #2
    'No comment', says US embassy on coup plot

    Oct 28, 2005
    Updated 11:45am (Mla time)
    Veronica Uy
    INQ7.net

    THE US embassy in Manila on Friday refused to comment on a US intelligence report linking former president Fidel Ramos to an alleged coup plot against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

    Ruth Urry, information officer of the US embassy, said: “We have no reaction on the reports. We have a long -standing rule not to react to media reports citing supposed US classified documents from unnamed sources.”

    Early on in the year, the US Embassy in Manila received information linking Ramos to reports of a supposed planned coup Arroyo, said a report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

    According to an embassy report dated February 24, 2005, and prepared before the illegal numbers game “jueteng” and the wiretap scandals erupted, Ramos gave his former national security adviser, Jose Almonte, until June to implement the plan against the President.

  3. Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    161
    #3
    Mahirap ding paniwalaan parati yang US. INTELLIGENCE.

    Sumablay nga sila dun sa Sept. 11 terrorists attacks sa World Trade Center sa New York.

    Sumablay din sila dun sa intelligence ng weapons of mass destruction ni Saddam sa Iraq.

    As you can see, US INTELLIGENCE eh sumasablay din.

  4. Join Date
    Aug 2005
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    #4
    Ball Sheeeeet!

  5. Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    #5
    only shows that uncle sam is not receptive of the idea of the shift to parliamentary form.

  6. Join Date
    Feb 2003
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    #6
    The US always has ulterior motives.

    and Tabako too...

  7. Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    21,384
    #7
    Eto bago, US Embassy "report" daw:





    US dissatisfied with GMA, stresses need for new leader
    CLASSIFIED REPORT: GLORIA ‘PLANTED SEEDS OF DISORDER AND AT WORST, SOCIAL UPHEAVAL’


    While United States Embassy officials downplay alleged reports that they had prepared about the Arroyo administration, a political counselor at the American mission in Manila notes that “a discouraging (President Gloria) Macapagal-Arroyo” is a problem for the Bush administration.

    A classified report dated Nov. 11, 2004, slammed Mrs. Arroyo for the economic mismanagement, vindictive judiciary, homegrown graft and investors' mistrust, among other serious ills, that resulted from the President's failure to show the skills of a strong leader and to face the challenges after ousting sitting President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

    The report said these grave problems, not the alleged destabilzation moves of the political minority, cost Mrs. Arroyo dearly her vain attempt to move the country within distance of its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

    In an apparent message that the US government wants the Philippine President out sooner than later, it talked of the need for a new leader.

    The report indicated that the replacement of Mrs. Arroyo must stress that the justice system at present cannot be trusted and that her administration “has planted the seed of disorder and at worst, social upheaval.”

    In the classified report, the US Embassy political adviser said prospects for a “bright and prosperous future” will not materialize under the Arroyo administration.

    “Trained as an economist, who promised to bring about an economic recovery, before Estrada's ouster, the Philippines, recovering from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, was considered to be having a bright and prosperous future,” the political counselor added.

    But the US official said “reality has been different after Estrada's ouster” more than four years ago. “Rather than moving ahead, the Philippines has lagged behind, not just behind Indonesia or Vietnam, but many of its Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors,” the classified report said.

    According to the report, the per capita growth of the Philippines has averaged less than one percent annually. It said the failure of Mrs. Arroyo to move the country forward was not due to alleged destabilization attempts by the political opposition but because of many factors, including “weakness of the rule of law - resulting in both a poor peace and order situation and endemic corruption.”

    The President's “lack of mandate and sharp memories in the powers of the masa (masses) have made her tread carefully and eschew bold, possibly unpopular measures,” the report added.

    “She has exhibited weak leadership skills and simply has not consistently risen to the challenges,” the political officer said.

    The US Embassy report also talked of massive corruption even as the political counselor said foreign investors have been shunning the country due to massive corruption in the government.

    “The corruption trail is long and shadowy, and appears to include family-contolled companies which do not shoulder their share of the tax burden, underpaid civil servants in revenue agencies who siphon off what money they collect, and members of Congress who expect to be paid for their support for legislation,” the report said.

    It also noted that even the judiciary, the police and the military are also infested with corruption. “Corruption also infests the judiciary, the police and the military, with direct economic effects: Businessmen and investors already here (in the Philippines) avoid the court system at all costs, and prefer to make their own arrangements for personal and corporate security, rather than rely on or call on the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” the political counselor said.

    American investors, the report stated, routinely cite frivolous legal maneuverings as a major impediment to doing business in the country. It said the US Embassy in the Philippines “regularly emphasizes the importance the USG (United States Government) places on the rule of law to high-level GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) officials.”

    The report added reform efforts have begun but are inching along at a snail's pace and are hampered by Philippine cultural factors.

    It said the state of the country's judicial system concerns Washington for three reasons because the US “(has) a stake in the game.”

    “US businesses in the Philippines can be subject to harassment under a justice system in which they generally lack confidence,” the report cited the first of the three concerns.

    The second concern stated in the report says “any of the estimated 120,000 American citizens or tourists here could be caught in the tangled web of the Philippine justice system,” which could possibly result in “unwarranted detention, outright extortion and/or miscarriage of justice altogether.”

    For the third concern, the report said “a reliable justice system and respect for the rule of law are prerequisites for a stable and peaceful society which can act as a strong partner in the region.”

    “The lack of judicial reform is one of the several factors that fuels public resentment - as in the case of ongoing trial of (ousted) President Joseph Estrada,” it pointed out.

    “In considering the prospects for true reform, reality dictates that significant change must occur,” the report said.

    It added “paternalistic and favor-trading” ways, which are inherent in the Filipino culture, could be blamed for current mess in the judiciary.

    The last paragraph of the report talked of the need for a new leader.

    It said the problem has reached the “highest levels of the GRP” and that reform would not be implemented or completed in the near term unless the new leader brings everyone (judiciary, Congress, the executive, the citizens, non-government organizations and international donors) to the table.

    The report added the new leader “must emphasize that there is a mistrust in the justice system and that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has planted the seed of disorder and at worst, social upheaval.”

    “The international community, as well, as the USG would need to see a major, long-term reshuffling, before anyone would have confidence in the integrity of the game,” it concluded.

  8. Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    #8
    afaik, one of the powerful groups where the US embassy/government gets some of its inputs about the performance of philippine goverment is the American Chamber of Commence in the Philippines. It's the association/league of presidents of american companies in the philippines. regularly, these american company presidents gather together and asses/report their company peformance with regards to economic situation in the country. if most of the presidents report that they are not making money in the country....it's safe to assume that the US goverment has to 'plan' what's best to protect the american businesses.

  9. Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    #9
    FVR camp says admin behind US report leak Military dismisses Ramos link to coup plots --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A HIGH administration official was behind the leak of an alleged United Embassy report linking President Fidel Ramos to an alleged power grab against President Arroyo, a spokesman of Ramos said yesterday.

    The spokesman, Ed Malay, said claims by Palace officials that the opposition was behind the leak was intended to sow confusion.

    "Basta hindi talaga opposition ang nagkakalat nito. Siguro ang taong yan gusto lang mag-away away ang lahat," he said.

    When pressed to identify the administration official, Malay declined.

    "Kung sino yun, mag-deny siya na yun" Malay said in a text message.

    He said the timing of the leak was also suspicious.

    "The fact that the alleged report was dated Feb. 24, 2005 and leaked out in October for an event that was supposed to be staged in June makes it unbelievable and amusing," he said.

    The alleged US Embassy report said that Ramos gave his former national security adviser Jose Almonte until June to implement the plan against Arroyo. It also added that Ramos had been in a series of meetings with members of the Federation of Retired Commissioned and Enlisted Soldiers (Forces) in pursuit of the alleged coup plot.

    Among the prominent members of Forces are Ramos’ budget secretary Salvador Enriquez and defense.

    The report is just the latest to touch on Ramos’ rocky relationship with Arroyo whom observers said was saved just in time by Ramos last July 8 when her economic managers quit the Cabinet and called on her to resign.

    Ramos has been calling on Arroyo to cut short her term through a constitutional amendment that would replace the presidential system with a parliamentary form of government.

    The Armed Forces said it was unlikely of Ramos to hatch a plot to oust Arroyo.

    AFP public information office chief Col. Tristan Kison said: "It is not in the nature of President Ramos to plan a coup d’etat. Being a former president, he knows that having a coup will have a negative effect on the economy."

    Kison acknowledged that the Intelligence Service of the AFP is assessing the statements of Ramos.

    But on evidence linking Ramos to the plot, Kison said, "I believe there is none."

    Ramos played a major role in the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and of President Joseph Estrada in 2001. – Ashzel Hachero and Victor Reyes
    ================================================== ===========================
    And to think, it was Malacanang who first called FVR saying that they don't believe the report and pointing their fingers to the opposition. Kakatawa parang kasabihan sino unang pumiyok siya ang umutot

  10. Join Date
    Aug 2005
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    4,293
    #10
    Ball sheet ang gulo nyo!

US Embassy report linked Ramos to plot