Arroyo declares state of emergency

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced she had quashed a coup plot Friday and declared a state of emergency, gambling that the backlash wouldn't leave her government crippled.

It was one of the toughest days yet for Arroyo, who already has withstood two coup attempts and other crises during five tumultuous years in power.

Imposing a state of emergency is a dangerous move in a country still smarting from the martial-law decrees of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. It came on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the culmination of the "people power" revolt that ousted Marcos.

Riot police — already on heightened alert as reports of a coup plot have circulated for more than a week — used force to disperse two protests before they could gather steam, leading to accusations that Arroyo was suppressing dissent.

Former President Corazon Aquino and about 5,000 people were allowed to march peacefully to a memorial to her late husband Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 sparked huge protests that led to the revolt against Marcos.

Aquino, a one-time Arroyo ally, criticized the emergency declaration and reiterated a call for the president to "make the supreme sacrifice" and resign.

The protesters want Arroyo to resign because of alleged election-rigging in 2004, as well as accusations of corruption and human-rights abuses such as the purported killing of activists by security forces. Arroyo vigorously denies the accusations.

An army general also was arrested and a police commander was relieved of his duties as military chiefs moved to prevent any rebellion.

The military played major roles in the revolt that ousted Marcos and a similar uprising that toppled President Joseph Estrada in 1991, and it has a recent history of restiveness.

Arroyo ordered a security clampdown, with military camps barricaded to keep troops from joining the demonstrations.

Military chiefs said they backed Arroyo and had eased the threat of a coup, but had not wiped it out completely.

U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Americans in the Philippines were advised to be careful. Arroyo, who started with a pre-dawn meeting of her national-security council and remained in the presidential palace late Friday, appealed for calm. Her chief of staff, Mike Defensor, said no curfew will be imposed but the declaration bans rallies, allows arrests without warrants, permits the president to call in the military to intervene and lets her take over facilities — including media outlets — that may affect national security.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the country's largest lawyers' group, said it will question the legality of Arroyo's declaration before the Supreme Court. Arroyo survived three impeachment bids in September, when her dominant allies in the House of Representatives used a technicality to block complaints of alleged corruption and vote-rigging.