MANILA, PHILIPPINES - TROOPS and armoured vehicles were rushed to the Philippine capital on Friday to beef up security for a planned mass protest against President Gloria Arroyo, military officials said.

At least three armoured vehicles and numerous troops have arrived to reinforce soldiers already based in Manila ahead of the protest later on Friday, the officials said in a statment.

The troops will 'ensure that the socio-economic and political activities ... will continue to be unhampered', the statement said.

Military forces in the city are on red alert for the rally called by opposition parties in the financial district of Manila to press for the ouster of Mrs Arroyo over renewed allegations of corruption.

The military has warned that communist insurgents might try to infiltrate and disrupt the rally, but opposition spokesmen have dismissed this as a ploy to justify the tightened security.

Security officials also revealed on Thursday that they recently uncovered a plot by suspected Al-Qaeda linked Islamic militants to assassinate Mrs Arroyo, but this was unrelated to the rally.

Police checkpoints have been set up on highways leading into the city with officers stopping and searching commuter vehicles. There were no reports of any arrests.

The rally is expected to start at 4pm.

It has been called to demand Mrs Arroyo's ouster over fresh claims that her husband and a political ally tried to gain millions of dollars in kickbacks from a telecoms deal with a Chinese firm.

Mrs Arroyo has denied any wrongdoing in the US$329-million (S$466-million) deal for a national broadband network with China's state-run ZTE. The president has cancelled the deal as a result of the graft allegations which are being investigated by the Senate. -- AFP