Phillippines ? President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency today as she struggled against a reported coup plot and a possible repeat of the protests that ousted two of her predecessors.

The announcement came after the military said a general had been arrested in connection with a coup plot and as people defied a ban on rallying at a shrine of the 1986 revolt that ousted Ferdinand Marcos. Clashes erupted as police tried to disperse the protesters.

Arroyo said her action was the result of ongoing efforts by the political opposition, along with both the extreme left and the extreme right, to bring down the elected government.

“I am declaring a state of emergency because of the clear threat to the nation,” a defiant Arroyo said in a taped, nationally televised statement.

“This is my warning against those who threaten the government: the whole weight of the law will fall on your treason. You are unhinging the economy from its strengthening pillars.”