http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200602160404.htm
Tanks at Palace stir coup rumors
The Philippine Star 02/16/2006
The arrival of battle tanks at the Malacañang grounds early yesterday morning triggered new coup rumors.
But Palace authorities were quick to clarify the presence of the tanks — accompanied by a truckload of heavily armed soldiers — on the Palace grounds before 4 a.m. yesterday was an authorized troop movement and should not be a cause for alarm.
Led by three Simba-type tanks, the military armored assets came all the way from Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac, home of the Philippine Army’s Light Armor Regiment (PALAR).
Capt. Ramon Zagala, spokesman for the military’s National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM), said the tanks and the truckload of soldiers belong to the elite Presidential Security Group (PSG).
Zagala said the PSG troops had just returned from daylong armored and infantry training exercises at Crow Valley in Camp O’ Donnell.
"This is an authorized troop movement. There is no reason to fear," Zagala assured the public.
"They (the PSG troops) left for Crow valley (in Tarlac) for test-firing training on Tuesday. They are not reinforcements," Zagala added.
Aside from the PSG, the NCRCOM in Metro Manila forms part of the national government’s first line of defense.
Reports of unauthorized troop movements from Northern Luzon to Metro Manila spread on Tuesday, bolstering talk of an impending coup.
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Simbas are wheeled APCs...
Tanks at Palace stir coup rumors
The Philippine Star 02/16/2006
The arrival of battle tanks at the Malacañang grounds early yesterday morning triggered new coup rumors.
But Palace authorities were quick to clarify the presence of the tanks — accompanied by a truckload of heavily armed soldiers — on the Palace grounds before 4 a.m. yesterday was an authorized troop movement and should not be a cause for alarm.
Led by three Simba-type tanks, the military armored assets came all the way from Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac, home of the Philippine Army’s Light Armor Regiment (PALAR).
Capt. Ramon Zagala, spokesman for the military’s National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM), said the tanks and the truckload of soldiers belong to the elite Presidential Security Group (PSG).
Zagala said the PSG troops had just returned from daylong armored and infantry training exercises at Crow Valley in Camp O’ Donnell.
"This is an authorized troop movement. There is no reason to fear," Zagala assured the public.
"They (the PSG troops) left for Crow valley (in Tarlac) for test-firing training on Tuesday. They are not reinforcements," Zagala added.
Aside from the PSG, the NCRCOM in Metro Manila forms part of the national government’s first line of defense.
Reports of unauthorized troop movements from Northern Luzon to Metro Manila spread on Tuesday, bolstering talk of an impending coup.
---
Simbas are wheeled APCs...
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