Gov't vows 'full force' vs 'power grab' plotters

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima slams Arroyo allies over actions that can 'be contemplated as conspiracies relating to sedition, rebellion, or coup d' etat'

WORST CRISIS. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III responds to questions on February 6, 2015, after he delivers his second televised address regarding the killing of 44 police officers in a clash in southern Philippines. Photo by Ritchie Tongo/EPA

MANILA, Philippines The government vows to apply the full force of the law against the President's critics who push for an unconstitutional and illegal power grab, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Sunday, February 22.

De Lima singled out the National Transformation Council (NTC), a group composed of allies of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The group includes Norberto Gonzales, a former defense secretary and national security adviser under the Arroyo administration.

In a statement, De Lima slammed the NTC for urging the installation of a civilian-military junta. She pointed out that the group wants to become the de facto government of the Philippines.

She also criticized the NTC for proposing or conspiring to commit the crime of coup d'etat, as when it requested the military's support.

The NTCs pronouncements and publicly declared strategy for the capture of state power through active military support to the NTC are therefore acts which already constitute conspiracy or proposal to commit rebellion and coup d etat (Art. 136 in relation to Arts. 134 and 134-A, Revised Penal Code), conspiracy to commit sedition (Art. 141 in relation to Art. 139, RPC) or, at the very least, inciting to sedition (Art. 142, RPC), as well as illegal assemblies (Art. 146, RPC), the justice secretary said.

She explained: A junta by any other sanitized name is still illegal and unconstitutional. By calling for people power and military support to force the Presidents 'resignation' in order to pave the way for a junta, the NTC and its mushrooming allied alphabet soup organizations of discredited government officials consisting of charged plunderers, grafters, and tax evaders, or of those under investigation for such crimes, may have just crossed the line of legitimate dissent.

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Gov't vows 'full force' vs 'power grab' plotters