ESCAPE OF MAGDALO OFFICERS SPELLS MORE TROUBLE FOR GMA

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the escape of four more junior officers from the Magdalo group clearly shows the prevailing unrest in the Armed Forces of the Philippines that stems from the unresolved question over the legitimacy of the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Pimentel expressed apprehension that the restiveness in the military will escalate into the participation of disgruntled officers in an extra-constitutional means of seizing political power unless the President voluntarily steps down.

The escape of the Magdalo officers means more trouble for Gloria. She should resign now before violence swallows up her administration, the minority leader said.

He said the military officers, like ordinary Filipino citizens, feel disenchanted over President Arroyos failure to reform herself and her attempts to cling to power through undemocratic means even after she was given a new lease on the presidency following the arbitrary dismissal of the impeachment case against her in September last year.