."We indeed received those reports and we are still in the process of verifying and confirming all these reports," Gazmin told legislators.

"As far as a coup d'état is concerned, it is to entail the support of the military and we are very confident the military will not be involved in the coup d'état," Gazmin said.

The coup members would try and benefit from the discontent caused by the deaths of 44 members of the Philippines National Police-Special Action Force troopers on the southern island of Mindanao which the senate began to investigate this week.

Sources say that one of the country's richest companies was supporting the coup plotters.

In a press release, the Philippine Armed Forces said that it would investigate the matter.

Military uprisings against the civilian government have plagued Philippine politics for decades but none have been successfully carried out.