My Soldier Dad and the 1989 Coup Attempt Against President Cory Aquino
/
General Cunanan outside the main gate of Camp Aguinaldo commanding his troops and armored units and orchestrating the counter-offensive against the coup plotters. (Photo courtesy of Buddy Cunanan)
Dad was a graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point) Class of 1961. He had a long and distinguished career. After serving in various field commands, including a stint with the security force of the Philippine Civil Action Group outside Saigon during the Vietnam War, he was recruited by then-Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile to become Chief of the National Defense Intelligence Office (NDIO). He headed NDIO for 13 years, serving as Minister Enrile’s top spook and often running circles around Gen. Fabian Ver’s much larger, better-funded, and better-equipped National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA).
President Corazon Aquino and General Fidel Ramos
After the February 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, Dad returned to command troops in the field. In April 1986, while a colonel and commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade/5th Infantry Division, he and his men were ambushed by communist rebels in Cagayan Valley. He was one of the few who survived, albeit with 27 near-fatal grenade and bullet wounds. After recovering, he returned to the field again, this time as Commanding General of the 2nd Infantry Brigade/2nd Division.
The late 1980s were unsteady times, with numerous coup attempts by then-Col. Gringo Honasan and ex-Minister Enrile against President Corazon Aquino. However, the most serious threat to the administration came in December 1989. In that coup attempt, her government found itself virtually defenseless as key military units chose to “fence sit” or had otherwise already defected to the rebels.
Government forces during the December 1, 1989 coup (Photo by Matthew Laird, Asisbiz.com)
At that time, Dad was commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade in Laguna province, which was strategic as it was just outside Metro Manila. On November 30, he received orders to reinforce military headquarters at Camp Emilio Aguinaldo, after Marine Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Biazon, who was then commander of the capital, discovered that all his troops—Marines mostly—had already joined the mutineers.
At the Camp Aguinaldo Grandstand after the coup attempt had been crushed. Seated from left: General Thelmo Y. Cunanan, Chief of Staff General Renato De Villa, Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos, General Rodolfo Biazon, Gen. Javier D. Carbonel (Photo courtesy of Buddy Cunanan)
Knowing that Honasan had been trying to recruit officers to participate in the putsch, my dad gathered all his officers and told them these exact words: “Gentlemen, we’ve been ordered to reinforce Camp Aguinaldo. We are going to do our Constitutional duty to defend the government. If there are those of you who don’t support this, let’s part now as friends. But if you join me and later waver in battle or try to defect, I’ll shoot you myself and I’ll shoot you face-to-face and not from behind.” There were a few moments of deafening silence as Dad waited for someone to speak. Not a word. Then he said: “Very well gentlemen. Let’s go. It’s time to save The Republic.”
Dad led a convoy of troop carriers and armored vehicles six kilometers long that occupied both lanes of the South Luzon Expressway to defend Camp Aguinaldo. He risked his life personally commanding his soldiers in the thick of the firefight. Active and retired military officers agree that without my father and his troops, Camp Aguinaldo and, consequently, Aquino's government would have fallen.
Later in life, when people asked Dad why he had fought in battle against the forces of Juan Ponce Enrile, a man whom he had served faithfully as intelligence chief for 13 years, to defend Aquino's government, he said: "I know where my loyalty to a man ends and where my loyalty to my country and the Constitution begins."
ABC News with Peter Jennings
Reposted with permission from the author’s Facebook page.
Buddy Cunanan is the son of General Thelmo Cunanan. A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila (GS, HS, ADMU, AGSB), he is a businessman, sportsman, media practitioner (print and broadcast), amateur aviator, philanthropist, and honorary consul.
