Trillanes: All quiet on military front, but you never know

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

There is no unrest in the military these days because the conditions that provoked past discontents no longer exist.

“The concerns that caused unrest in the past like lack of housing and delays in the salaries of soldiers have been addressed,” said Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in Filipino in a radio interview yesterday.

Trillanes—leader as a Navy lieutenant of two coup attempts against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—was asked his insights on the two-year-old Aquino administration over radio station dzBB.

Trillanes recalled that in the early days of the Aquino administration there was a group of civilians out to “grab power” that attempted to recruit soldiers but they failed.

The rebel-turned-senator said some “mercenaries” in the military took money from the anti-administration group but only made promises that were never kept.

“There is no longer any military unrest where the mission is to fight corruption. But in the case of a power grab scenario, nothing came of it (“wala ’yan”).  They were only after the money of those willing to finance such efforts (“mangunguwarta lang naman ’yun”),” said Trillanes, a leader of the Oakwood mutiny of 2003.

The 40-year-old senator, who is running for reelection next year, said “the most that was agreed upon were acts of sabotage and terrorism meant to scare people just so the mercenaries could justify what they charged the financiers.”

The senator noted that soldiers were smarter now and could easily discern “when he is being abused or played with.”

“When the soldier realizes that external problems like corruption and social injustice are unbearable, that is when military intervention is considered. But as it is, I do not see such indications. And apparently, not within the next four years,” he said.

Still, he warned that coup financiers may be keeping a low profile these days but this did not mean they had quit.

“But whether they will succeed (“kung uusad”) is a different thing altogether,” he said.

Originally posted: 3:56 pm | Sunday, July 1st, 2012