Interior Secretary Jose Lina said "the assassination has been the subject of an intelligence report" with targets including the president and some other figures.

Presidential Security Group chief Colonel Delfin Bangit said his men are "on red alert" after receiving reports "that there are soldiers who got out with weapons like Barrett (long-range guns) and sniper rifles" following Sunday's mutiny by about 300 soldiers.

These weapons "can be used for activities like (to) assassinate and kill possible targets. If the president is included in the targets, we do our best to secure our president and we also call upon the public to preserve the presidency."

Arroyo at the weekend quelled the mutiny without bloodshed.

The rebel soldiers had seized part of the Makati financial district for just under 24 hours as part of what the government alleged was a plot to depose her and install a 15-member ruling junta in her place.

Rumors of unauthorized movements of military units swept Manila on Friday as the government mounted security operations to root out the financial backers of the rebellion.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes dismissed these reports, describing them as part of "disinformation" by "those who would want to destabilize the situation."

Arroyo on Friday rejected calls for her to give up emergency powers she had assumed to crush the mutiny, saying the "State of Rebellion will continue until we wrap up the residual threats."

All the known 321 military participants of the Makati siege have been arrested, and state prosecutors are preparing to charge them with rebellion.

But Arroyo's National Security Adviser Roilo Golez warned that the plot was well-funded from outside sources and must have been directed by more senior officers.

He told a public hearing at the Senate that it would be "prudent to assume that there may be someone higher" in the military ranks involved in the plot.

The arrested rebels left behind more than half a million dollars' worth of equipment at the site of the siege and in several staging areas around Manila, Golez said.

"We doubt very much if the young officers were capable of generating (so much) money from their own pockets," he said, adding the government was "taking appropriate action" against these unnamed personalities.

One cabinet member of detained former president Joseph Estrada's government has also been held and will be charged with rebellion, officials said.

The government said it also plans to prosecute opposition Senator Gregorio Honasan, who had led several coup attempts in the late 1980s.

Both Estrada and Honasan have denied any role in the mutiny. Estrada is on trial for corruption after he was toppled in a military-backed popular revolt in 2001.

Arroyo on Friday warned Congress against attempts to block the prosecution of Honasan. Opposition legislators have alleged that their colleague was being tried by publicity.

"There has been an overt attempt to overthrow the Government by force of arms. I ask the members of the legislature not to legitimize a criminal act that unfolded before our very eyes, or to try to impede Government efforts to get to the root of the plot," Arroyo said.

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