Arroyo cancels visit after Philippines security threat

By Manny Mogato

MANILA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will skip an official visit to the main military academy this weekend due to an assassination threat by Islamic militants, her chief bodyguard said on Thursday.

Brigadier-General Romeo Prestoza, head of the Presidential Security Group, denied Arroyo had cancelled the trip so she could stay in Manila and monitor anti-government rallies planned on Friday and Sunday.

Prestoza said security officials had called off the Saturday visit to the military academy in Baguio city, north of Manila, after being informed of threats from Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a regional terror group which has a handful of members based in the south of the Philippines.

"We're taking any threat of this nature very seriously," Prestoza told reporters.

"It's not just the president, there are other targets."

In 1987, a bomb exploded at the military academy grandstand days before then President Corazon Aquino was due to deliver a speech. No one was injured in the blast, which was suspected to have been caused by either disgruntled troops or communist rebels.

Security analysts were sceptical that JI would target the country's main military base in the north when its members are on the run in the southernmost tip of the archipelago.

"I don't think we should give credence to this threats. This could be part of the government's political posturing due to the political situation in the capital," said Mars Buan, an analyst at Pacific Strategies and Assessments, a risk consultancy.

The Philippine government has a history of ramping up security threats ahead of political rallies to deter people from joining.

Leftwing activists are planning a rally on Friday to call for Arroyo's resignation amid a resumed Senate inquiry into government corruption. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Carmel Crimmins) (manuel.mogato@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: manuel.mogato.reuters.com@reuters.net; +632 841 8913))