The Presidency Must Be Protected At All Cost Biazon

Senator Rodolfo G Biazon today filed P. S. Resolution No. 477 directing the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security to inquire in aid of legislation on the alleged assassination plot against the Presidency during the recent Philippine Military Academy graduation ceremonies last March 25, 2006.

The Committee needs to take a look into this alleged assassination plot against the Presidency to determine if our laws on national security and penal laws are sufficient to protect our most important civil servant, Biazon asserted.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security cited that the plot on the Presidency was allegedly discovered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines when it seized a document entitled Operation Plan Hackle.

The AFP Public Information Officer Col. Tristan Kison was quoted to have described Operation Plan Hackle as an alleged blueprint of a plot to assassinate President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and members of the Cabinet.

According to news reports, this was confirmed by the National Security Adviser Secretary Norberto Gonzales, the Presidential Chief of Staff Mike Defensor and the AFP Spokesman BGen Jose Angel Honrado.

Biazon said the discovery of Oplan Plan Hackle has also led to the thwarting of an alleged coup attempt that prompted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to declare a state of national emergency last February 24, 2006.

On the eve of the annual graduation ceremonies at the Philippine Military Academy, this alleged assassination plot against the life of the President was further emphasized when the military went on full alert in Metro-Manila and Northern Luzon purportedly as a precautionary measure.

The Presidency must be protected at all cost. Being the Chief Executive, the Presidency must be given the highest protection available not only because any untoward incident may cause political instability, but also because the Presidency is an institution that symbolizes the countrys sovereignty and democracy.

Biazon emphasized that there is a need to verify this assassination plot against the Presidency because there are allegations that it is being used to pave the way for more repressive measures such as E.O. 464, Proclamation 1017, the CPR..etc..

It is important to determine from which groups does this threat of the life of the President is coming from. Is it coming from the extreme left? The extreme right? The legitimate opposition? Or, was there a tactical alliance of the three that incidentally, have all been branded by the present Administration as enemies of the State? Biazon concluded.