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A group of junior Philippines army officers is demanding that Defence Secretary Eduardo Ermita resign, saying he ordered some of their comrades to spy on opposition politicians in the run-up to elections in May.
But Ermita, a retired general and former three-term member of the House of Representatives, said the allegations could be part of fresh moves to destabilise the government after an attempted coup by about 300 elite soldiers last July.
"I deny that," Ermita told Reuters on Wednesday. "I am not stupid enough to issue that order. I challenge them to shoot me if I am telling a lie."
In an interview with reporters this week, the officers denounced what they said was the government's attempt to use soldiers to influence the outcome of the election in May 10.
Six officers claiming to represent a group called "Kawal", the Philippine word for soldier, said they had no intention of undermining the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"We are calling for the resignation of Secretary Ermita," said an army captain who would be identified only as "Gabay", the local word for guide.
The officers said the government should address grievances among soldiers about salaries and allowances, housing and career development.
Gabay said Ermita had "given orders to monitor the movements" of film star Fernando Poe Jr and former education secretary Raul Roco, both of whom lead Arroyo in opinion polls.
Another presidential candidate, Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief during Estrada's term, had also come under military surveillance, Gabay said.
"We were given directives," he said. "In fact, we're able to gather documents showing how our fellow officers had been ordered to monitor the political opponents, track their movements and destroy their chances of winning."
Ermita, a senior official in the ruling coalition that backs Arroyo, became the defence chief in October after Angelo Reyes was forced out in the wake of the bloodless mutiny in July.
The military has played the role of political midwife twice in the last 18 years, initiating a coup to topple dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and supporting a popular revolt that chased Joseph Estrada from the presidential palace in 2001.
Including the one-day mutiny in Manila's business district in July, there have been eight other army uprisings since 1986.
Gabay read a two-page manifesto opposing the "dangerous" politicisation of the military as the others hid their faces behind a huge Philippine flag emblazoned with the word Kawal.
The manifesto was signed by 23 officers from the army, navy and air force. The group claimed to have about 200 members, most in the reserve force that makes up the bulk of the officer corps.
Ermita said the group of soldiers had violated the chain of command and could be arrested for joining fresh efforts to destabilise Arroyo's administration.
"They are trying to look for issues to criticise and bring down this government," he said, adding that one of the young officers is the son of a retired colonel who signed a separate manifesto calling for the suspension of the election.
Ermita vowed the defence and military establishments would stay politically neutral.

Copyright Reuters, 2004

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