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Manila: The Philippines' top two generals told opposition groups on Friday to stop asking soldiers to join calls for the overthrow of President Gloria Arroyo amid a corruption scandal.
"Do not ask us to intervene," General Hermogenes Esperon, the country's military chief, said. "The more the military intervenes, the more the country's democratic institutions become weak."
Lieutenant-General Alexander Yano, the head of the army who will succeed Esperon as military chief in May, echoed Esperon's call: "We can't just intervene every time there's a political problem," he said.
Civil society groups backed by some Catholic bishops, students and members of the business community, have been calling for Arroyo to quit after allegations of $130 million (Dh477.4 million) worth of kickbacks in a state telecoms deal with China's ZTE.
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Political analysts, however, say Arroyo's position is secure because the powerful Catholic Church has failed to come out directly against her and she enjoys the support of the military, whose top brass often get government jobs upon retirement.
The army has played key roles in the overthrow of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and former president Joseph Estrada in 2001 but rogue officers have also mounted over a dozen failed coup bids, including three against Arroyo.
Yesterday, former president Fidel Ramos slammed official corruption in the Philippines but like his predecessor Corazon Aquino stopped short of directly criticising Arroyo, whose final term runs out in 2010.
"History might yet call us to come together again - to offer our lives and fortunes on the altar of our civil leaders," Ramos said in a wreath-laying ceremony at Manila's Heroes Cemetery ahead of the anniversary of Marcos' overthrow on Monday.
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