Philippine Coup Hearings Enthrall Viewers

The hearings -- held by the Senate, the House of Representatives and an independent commission -- into the July 27 coup attempt by rebellious troops have been filled with twists and political intrigues reminiscent of the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada.

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The mutineers have alleged that top Philippine officials, with the approval of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, engaged in a plot called Operation Greenbase, which included bombings to justify martial law and keep Arroyo in power.

Rebel soldiers accused military officials of selling arms to Muslim rebels and ordering soldiers to toss grenades at mosques in revenge for bombings.

One mutiny leader, Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes, testified that he tried to tell Arroyo about the grievances but claimed she berated him and ordered his arrest.

Government officials deny the allegations and say Operation Greenbase is a hoax created by politicians to manipulate the soldiers.

Newsday

I believe the story behind the attempted coup is potentially huge, and needs tracking.

I swear that while the mutiny was happening, I heard on faux news that the mutineers said there had been US gov "approval" or "involvement" in the scheme, Op Greenbase.

Nothing else on this since that day, and admittedly the faux "news" guy (Twit Hume?) was sight-reading from scraps of paper being handed to him on live air, initial reports blahblah. Still, my current fantasy is that a little truth leaked out. And, I can certainly believe at least US "knowledge" since we have plenty of spooks and spec ops guys there. Like, they wouldn't know, when knowing is part of their job description?

Jack Hroner and the CIA. Military rightusist personnel in countries especially with US military bases MUST seek permission from the US before taking political action. You don't need a theory or a confirmation of this. It has to work this way all the more so if the coup is small and politically weak.

Haven't we trained these officers too?

The Philippine Senate voted to terminate the US-RP Military Bases Agreement, initiating the pullout of all American troops.

I had to check the date, found a nice timeline of Philippine Islands' history from "discovery" by Magellan through People Power Revolution:

http://www.ppower.org/rp_elections/timeline.html

Edit: I took a quick look at the rest of the site and it's all about politics in the RP -- election statistics, copies of legislation, etc. Mostly in English and the portions in Tagalog all seem to have English translations.