Makati Crisis Ends
"The crisis in Makati is over," the President, a wide grin of relief on her face, announced to journalists at Malacañang at 9:30 p.m.
"Two hundred ninety-six soldiers, including 70 officers, are standing down and returning to barracks," an obviously relieved Mrs. Arroyo announced on national television.
Mrs. Arroyo had declared a state of rebellion earlier in the day as the financial district was cordoned off and the rebels held out in a swanky high-rise apartment.
The mutineers and government forces were poised for a clash up to late last night but the rebels agreed to return to barracks at 9 p.m. after speaking with government negotiators.
"They will be investigated and their cases will be disposed of in accordance with the Articles of War. They have not asked and they will not be given special treatment," the President said in a brief statement.
Mrs. Arroyo added that civilians found to be cons-piring with the military officers in staging the aborted coup would be prosecuted.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Narciso Abaya, for his part, said the mutineers would proceed to the grandstand of Fort Bonifacio in Makati City after removing land mines and explosives that were planted all over the area that the mutineers held since 1 a.m. yesterday.
Abaya insisted that the mutineers made no demands but government negotiators said Col. Danilo Lim, commander of the 1st Army Scout Ranger Regiment, was tasked to work out how to resolve the mutineers’ complaints.
While all would be facing investigation, five leaders of the uprising would have to face the "full consequences of what they have done," Abaya said.
The five were identified as Lt. Antonio Trillanes IV, Lt. James Layug, Lt. Gerardo Gambala, Lt. Milo Maestrecampo and a certain Lt. Alejandro.
The rebels however reportedly asked that they be spared from the courts-martial Mrs. Arroyo said they would have to go through a few hours after they stormed the area of the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center luxury apartments and the Glorietta IV shopping mall after midnight.
Aside from Cimatu, the government negotiators included retired military chief of staff Gen. Dionisio Santiago, who is now a justice undersecretary, Navy Commodore Tirso Ganga, Undersecretary Abraham Puruganan, and a certain Lt. Col. Oben. STAR publisher Maximo Soliven was also invited to and participated in the negotiations.
The settlement came hours after the President declared the state of rebellion in Proclamation No. 427, which the President issued hours after the motley band of junior military officers and their men overran a small but strategic part of Makati City’s commercial and business district.
Government troops almost assaulted the Oakwood apartments where the rebels were holed up at around 5 p.m. when the ultimatum the President issued yesterday morning expired.
But the mutineers, who called themselves the "Magdalo Group," agreed to speak with government negotiators, prompting the President to twice extend the deadline.
In their talks with chief negotiator Cimatu the mutineers demanded the resignation of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, military intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.
The mutineers also demanded a genuine investigation into their charge that the military high command, including Reyes, sold military ordnance to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf terror group.
The Magdalo Group also demanded a probe on their charge that Reyes and Corpus, chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) allegedly "masterminded" the Sasa wharf bombing in Davao City in April this year.
The President, who is to deliver her State of the Nation Address (SONA) before Congress this afternoon, assured "the world that this does not in any way injure our national security and political stability ... Once more this has been a triumph for democracy."
Mrs. Arroyo thanked all the leaders of Congress, Church, civil society and members of the diplomatic community who expressed full support for her administration during the crisis, which involved "domestic, operational or administrative (issues) ... not ideological or fundamental policy areas."
One of the officers in the mutiny, Army Capt. Albert Baloloy, said he does not regret what happened because something good still came out of their failed coup.
Baloloy said he is satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations and that he and his men are prepared to face the consequences of their actions.
A peaceful exercise?
Over several hours, the mutineers repeatedly said the precision operation was "not a coup d’etat but a peaceful expression" of their gripes against the Arroyo administration.
Navy Lt. (s.g.) Trillanes, who served as the group’s spokesman in the early hours of the operation, said the group was ready to die for their belief that the Arroyo administration must step down for its alleged corruption.
But soon after the mutineers agreed to return to barracks, Trillanes was already mulling on seeking a second profession.
Aside from Trillanes, the most senior mutineers were Gambala, valedictorian of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1995 and Maestrecampo.
An hour after they took over the Oakwood area, the mutineers appeared together in a video recording that they later sent to ABS-CBN News Channel and GMA Network.
In the video, one of the officers read a statement saying the "system must be changed" and Mrs. Arroyo should step down because of her failure to implement reforms the country needed.
They also appealed to the public to "stand up and support them" if the people believe that it is time to stop widespread corruption in the government.
The group also accused Mrs. Arroyo of "being behind a plan" to stage bombings in Metro Manila so she could justify declaring martial law next month.
Special force precision
The mutineers took over the area around the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, the Oakwood Premier luxury apartments and the Glorietta shopping mall after midnight yesterday.
The mutineers commandeered private vehicles and used them to barricade roads in and around the area.
They also sealed Hotel Intercontinental and the Oakwood Premier, not allowing its guests to leave the buildings. But Oakwood managers said they purposely did not inform their guests about what was happening until sunrise.
By 10 a.m., however, the guests who occupied 223 of Oakwood’s rooms were evacuated to hotels in the Manila Bay area. There were no reports of injuries or untoward incidents.
The mutineers, led by some 70 captains and lieutenants from various branches of the military, were armed with high-powered weapons and wore red armbands designed with a sun and the ancient Tagalog character for the letter K.
The symbols were apparently adopted from one of the flags used by Filipino troops during the 1896 Philippine Revolution and one of the mutineers said they adopted the symbol and the name "Magdalo" because these were used by the revolutionary Andres Bonifacio.
However, Bonifacio and his supporters actually used the name "Magdiwang." The name "Magdalo" was used by Bonifacio’s rival Emilio Aguinaldo, who ordered Bonifacio’s assassination.
After securing the perimeter of the area, the rebels planted anti-personnel mines and other explosives in parking lots, sidewalk plant boxes, lightposts and traffic sign posts in and around the area.
"If they try to take us down, we will defend ourselves," Trillanes told journalists as his men wired the area with mines and other explosives.
Gringo again?
It was the second time Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of rebellion in the country, legally allowing her to suspend the writ of habeas corpus or declare martial law for two months.
The Constitution provides in Article VII, Section, 18 that Congress may revoke or extend such a declaration or suspension by a joint majority vote.
The first time Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of rebellion was on May 1, 2001 when thousands of supporters of deposed former President Joseph Estrada stormed Malacañang and clashed with Palace guards.
As in the May Day 2001 riot, the rebellion was again blamed on opposition Sen. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, a former army colonel who was dismissed in the 1990s for his involvement in the series of coup attempts that rocked the nation in the late 1980s.
Interior Secretary Jose Lina said "charges are being readied against the senator" to expose his alleged crimes "to the whole world."
"We have a very clear and strong intelligence report that his involvement in this is deep so we are readying charges and we will prepare other legal moves," Lina said in a television interview.
House defense committee chairman Rep. Prospero Pichay said that the mutineers betrayed their link to Honasan when they demanded the implementation of the National Recovery Program (NRP), which Honasan declared to be his platform for next year’s elections.
"The political nature of their exercise is very clear. They are waving the NRP of Senator Honasan as their platform. they are calling for the President to step down. It seems obvious that there are political masters who are calling the shots, or at least, who have indoctrinated them into embarking on their misadventure," Pichay said.
But Honasan vehemently denied any hand in the Magdalo Group’s "adventure."
"The administration should stop pointing to the opposition as behind the mutineers. The National Recovery Program that I am proposing is an open document. It does not call for any violent move to overthrow the government," Honasan said.
Honasan later appeared at the Oakwood apartments with Senate minority leader Vicente Sotto III, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon and housing secretary Michael Defensor.
Defensor, one of the President’s closest Cabinet members, said Honasan went to Oakwood to show "good faith" and to prove to the mutineers that the senator would not be arrested.
The true state of the nation
With soldiers and officers flitting behind him, Trillanes appeared on most television stations throughout the morning, reiterating his group’s demands.
"This is the true state of the nation," Trillanes said, when asked why they timed the operation on the eve of the President’s SONA before Congress.
But Palace officials said the President will deliver her SONA at 4 p.m. today as mandated by the Constitution.
By early afternoon, government forces, who had been arriving in batches since the start of the mutiny, had already secured the perimeter of the area and waited for orders at strategic location at Epifanio de los Santos avenue, Ayala avenue, Arnaiz avenue and Makati avenue.
In his television appearances, Trillanes repeatedly appealed to the public to come to the Makati City commercial and business district and show their support for the mutineers.
"If people don’t come, that means they (believe) in GMA and we deserve to die. If that happens, then they will have the government they deserve," Trillanes said.
But Reyes denied all the charges and alternately described the accusations as "preposterous," "pathetic" and "ridiculous."
Palace officials also denied the charge that Mrs. Arroyo was planning to declare martial law.
"We were once victims of martial law during the time of former President (Ferdinand) Marcos and this administration was born out of two EDSA people power revolutions and to say that this administration will declare martial law is a lot of b...s...," said presidential adviser on political affairs Hernani Braganza.
"One of the disinformation being peddled in the ongoing incident is the alleged plans of the president to declare martial law in August," said National Security Adviser Roilo Golez. - Mayen Jaymalin, Jose Rodel Clapano, Roel Pareño, Marichu Villanueva, Paolo Romero, Sheila Crisostomo, Pamela Samia, Katherine Adraneda, Jose Aravilla, and wire services
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