The Philippine military said on Sunday it will continue to stay neutral in the on-going political turmoil after a senator accused former president Corazon Aquino and Senate president Franklin Drilon of trying to kill President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a coup attempt.

"Our Armed Forces of the Philippines will continue to be constitutional, we will try our best to follow the chain of command," said the military public information office chief Buenaventura Pascual.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said she learned from a relative of Drilon that the Senate president and Aquino were planning to oust Arroyo by the middle of the month by "physically removing" the president.

"We are assuring that the soldiery will not interfere in this political exercise. We are exerting our efforts to keep ourselves away from this political problem," said Pascual in an interview with local radio DzBB.

He said the military should not be dragged into the political turmoil which was triggered by opposition accusation that Arroyo cheated in last year's presidential election.

"Our continuing appeal is for our politicians not to drag the Armed Forces in this political problem. We are allowing them (politicians) to solve this political problem in their ground, do not drag the Armed Forces into it," he said.

He also said the military intelligence community is verifying the claim of Santiago on the planned coup and assassination but expressed confidence that the military is capable of protecting the president.

"If we are going to talk about security of our president, the PSG (presidential security guard) has enough capability to address security concerns. The PSG could easily protect our president from any threat on her life," he said.

Source: Xinhua