MANILA (AFP) - Philippine authorities are to offer a bounty for a former senator and 15 other opposition figures being sought for an alleged coup plot against President Gloria Arroyo, a top aide said Wednesday.
"The Department of Justice will announce a bounty," Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said on government radio.
He did not give the amount of the reward, which he said would cover Gregorio Honasan and 15 others accused of rebellion and attempting a coup d'etat.
Arroyo announced last month that she had foiled a plot by military officers and communist rebels. She has since sacked several senior military and police officials and filed criminal charges against Honasan and 15 others.
Former army colonel Honasan, who entered politics after receiving an amnesty for his role in a series of bloody coup attempts in the 1980s, disappeared from public view shortly before Arroyo imposed a week-long emergency last month.
The government has also accused him of being the mastermind of a failed military mutiny in 2003.
The Arroyo government alleges the leftist legislators represented the communist guerrillas in the supposed tactical alliance with the military.
|
