By DPA
Manila : Five people, including three discharged army scout rangers, were arrested in the Philippines on charges of involving in a fresh plot to oust scandal-tainted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a lawyer said Wednesday.
Trixie Angeles, who represented the three discharged soldiers in a previous rebellion case, said the five were arrested separately from their homes late Tuesday by military intelligence agents.
Angeles said aside from her clients, one of the arrested was a soldier in active service, while the identity of the other suspect was still unconfirmed.
“They are connecting them to rumours of destabilization,” she said. “They have been transferred to the custody of the police.”
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez revealed last week a new plot to oust Arroyo, who is accused by her critics of corruption and rigging the 2004 presidential election.
Gonzalez said the plot, which allegedly involved communist rebels and rightist soldiers, was to be implemented later in the week or early next week in time for the seventh anniversary of a military-backed mass uprising that brought Arroyo to power in 2001.
Arroyo has so far succeeded in thwarting several coup attempts against her government and blocked moves by opposition legislators to impeach her.
Various surveys have shown that Arroyo is perceived by majority of the Filipinos as the most corrupt leader the Philippines ever had, even worse than late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. She has also been the least trusted of the country’s leaders.