Philippine Army Intelligence Chief Quits
( 2003-07-30 15:44) (Agencies)
The Philippine army intelligence chief resigned Wednesday following last weekend's failed mutiny by junior officers and soldiers demanding reforms in the military, the president said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement she accepted the resignation of Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, who quit apparently in a bid to ease the restiveness among the country's soldiers following Sunday's failed, bloodless uprising.
About 300 soldiers and officers who took over a ritzy commercial and shopping complex in Manila's financial district had demanded Corpus' resignation, accusing him of incompetence and involvement in a recent deadly bombing in the southern Philippines to justify more military aid from the United States.
The mutineers, who are now being detained and interrogated at military intelligence headquarters in Manila, also demanded the resignation of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and National Police chief Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane.
"The current political crisis is far from finished. There is still deep restiveness in the officers' corps," Corpus said in his resignation letter to Arroyo.
"The putschists are asking for my resignation. Although I can honestly say that their accusation that I had a hand in the Davao bombing is without basis, I think that it is best for all that I get out of the picture," he said.
The mutineers claimed that Corpus was in the southern city of Davao when a bomb exploded in a crowded wharf, killing 16 people in April. They said Corpus was either involved in the attack or was so incompetent he failed to detect and foil the attack.
Corpus, a former communist guerrilla leader, became the first military official to step down following Sunday's drama.
Authorities on Tuesday charged Ramon Cardenas, a close ally of disgraced ex-President Joseph Estrada with rebellion for allegedly aiding young disaffected military officers who led the uprising.
"All plotters will be brought to justice," Arroyo vowed in a speech Tuesday at Camp Aguinaldo, the main military headquarters, where she distributed medals to loyal troops for quelling the mutiny. She also named members of an independent commission to investigate the mutiny.
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