Ex-national security adviser Almonte wanted Honasan to be PHL president

Senator Gregorio Honasan II could have been the president of the Philippines if then national security adviser Jose Almonte had his way.

 

Almonte said he groomed Honasan to be the country's next leader, along with other members of the Reform the Armed Forces, which was later renamed the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa.

 

“I wanted him (Honasan), in fact, to be the president. He knows that I was looking for him before because I wanted him to be the vice president of Gloria (Macapagal Arroyo),” he said in an interview with GMA News TV's "News To Go"'s Howie Severino on Friday.

 

He, however, did not say what year he made such a plan.

 

“I could not locate him for 24 hours. That's his fault. Sabi niya that is not his destiny. So Gloria became president. That could have been Gringo,” Almonte added.

 

Honasan and Almonte were part of RAM, which took part in ousting then President Ferdinand Marcos.

 

Almonte said he knew that he was too old to lead the government so he had to train men who could do the work.

 

“I am already too old and I knew the transition will be long and I will be much older when the call for leadership comes in. And I thought they were the ones who are ready for that. Deliberately on my part, they were the ones I pushed through insofar as public recognition,” he said.

 

Almonte said that since he was 15 years older than the other members of RAM, he tried to impart to them his experience.

 

“I have more experiences insofar as this kind of process is concerned so I brought that to them. My aim is not to promote myself but to promote them as future leaders of the nation,” he said.

 

Almonte served as the national security adviser of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

 

Prior to that, he was the head of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the director of the Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB) during the time of then President Corazon Aquino.

For his part, acting Senate minority leader Vicente Sotto III had this to say about Almonte's plan for Honasan: "Oh, yes. I'm sure he'll make a good president."
—Amita O. Legaspi/KG/JDS, GMA News