HOTEL SIEGE
A cloud of tear gas and armored vehicles used as battering rams forced a group of rebellious former military officers out of an upscale
Instead Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, former Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and a handful of supporters, bereft of the public support they craved, walked out of the Peninsula Manila hotel into a waiting police bus shortly after a government armored personnel carrier smashed into the hotel’s main entrance and drove through the tear gas-filled lobby.
There was no immediate report of casualties in the attack. The police and the military were on full alert yesterday and a curfew took effect at
The rebel soldiers, their supporters, and some members of media were then taken for questioning to Camp Bagong Diwa in
Earlier in the day, Trillanes, Lim and their supporters stormed out of a hearing of their coup cases to demand the resignation of President Arroyo and drum up support for another “people power” style revolt.
It was Trillanes who led the July 2003 takeover of the nearby Oakwood Premier Hotel, for which he was charged with coup d’etat.
The dramatic events unfolded after the
With Trillanes and Lim were other dissident officers and opposition leaders including former Vice President Teofisto Guingona and Roman Catholic bishops Antonio Tobias and Julio Labayen.
They were also held for questioning together with some members of the media who stayed at the
“By the grace of God and as we have promised, the situation in
Immediately after taking over the Peninsula Hotel at around
“We are joining our people in calling for a change in leadership,” Lim said. “We call on the military to withdraw support for Mrs. Arroyo in order to end her unconstitutional and illegal occupation of the presidency,” he added.
Guingona, using a glass of water, even raised a toast to what he thought was victory by anti-government forces.
“This is like EDSA,” he said referring to the highway that was the flashpoint of two previous military-backed civilian revolts.
Shortly after the military assault, a distraught Trillanes said he was giving up to protect the civilians and that he was doing his duty as soldier and senator when he led the hotel takeover.
“My duty is to stand for the rights of the oppressed. We have just witnessed how far this administration would go to stay in power,” he said.
“You have been witnesses and victims of the kind of ruthlessness this administration has been giving to the people. Like soldiers, we’re going to face this,” Trillanes said.
He said that his 11 million voters, many of whom were soldiers and their families, “sympathize with our cause.”
Lim, for his part, said that what they did “was in consonance with our solemn constitutional mandate to be the protector of the people and the state” noting that “dissent without action is consent.”
He said their struggle is not yet over. “This is a continuing business, apparently there is unfinished business here.”
The so-called “running priest” Fr. Robert Reyes said those who holed up at the hotel never intended to use violence and that not a single gunshot was fired by the rebellious soldiers. “May the world have mercy on this government.”
More arrests seen
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said many others may be arrested and charged with sedition in connection with the
Gonzalez pointed out that the definition of inciting to sedition under the law is very broad and could very well cover the act committed by Trillanes, Lim and their co-conspirators.
He said the arrests could include the military guards who allowed Trillanes and Lim to leave the Makati City Regional Trial Court. The guards were reportedly seen wearing red armbands of the Magdalo group of Trillanes..
“Clearly these guards should be charged. They are not just sympathizers, they have already done the overt act of joining,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said that it is likely that Trillanes and Lim have sympathizers who were not at the
In the case of Guingona, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol said that he was merely expressing his right to exercise or just to “take a walk.”
Gonzalez said that it would be useless to charge Guingona for anything since “he is too old to be sent to jail.”
Apostol added in jest that Guingona would be covered anyway by the presidential policy of pardoning offenders aged 70 and above.
Prelude to assault
National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Geary Barias earlier gave the dissidents until
He indicated that fellow soldiers would try to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff, which led the hotel to evacuate guests and staff. It was unclear where the rest of the often-restive military’s loyalties lay.
“My orders now are to rearrest them and take them back to custody, to apply the law,” Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said at the height of the takeover.
“We want to assure our people that we will apply the full force of the law to maintain peace and order in the area and the rest of the country,” he said.
“We want change,” Trillanes said after taking over the
“We tried to restore legitimacy, but she used naked power ... to frustrate us,” Lim said. “We should use all we can to prevent the sliding back into corruption. We are withdrawing support from this government and other units will also do so.”
Guingona, left-wing leaders and two Roman Catholic bishops joined the military men who set up a “command center” in a second-floor function room of the hotel.
“We have to bring people here to guard our perimeters,” Trillanes told them. A leftist leader told him, after a phone call, that 3,000 members of one union were on the way. Police chief Director General Avelino Razon urged people to stay away from the hotel in anticipation of a siege.
A few blocks from the
Mrs. Arroyo took over from president Joseph Estrada who was ousted in January 2001. Opponents have criticized the legitimacy of her rule ever since.
She also has been fighting allegations that she rigged the 2004 elections that gave her a six-year term. Her administration is also embroiled in numerous unresolved scandals including the aborted $329-million national broadband network deal with ZTE Corp. of
At the local bourse, the stock market gave up more than half of its gain at close of trading yesterday as investors quickly locked in early gains apparently spooked by the events in
Curfew up
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the curfew, which covered Metro Manila and Regions 3 and 4A, would help law enforcers in “follow-up operations.”
“Curfew means unless there is a specific reason for anyone to be out of their residents or to be moving in the streets, they should remain home,” Puno said. “We will have checkpoints maintained in the critical parts of Metro Manila and the surrounding areas.
“We encouraged everyone to cooperate with the rules and guidelines that will be specified relative to the curfew,” he added.
He said there would also be a ban on carrying of firearms, and even those with licenses to carry them were discouraged from taking them out of their homes.
“Our police authorities and military want to ensure that the entire Metro Manila will be safe and sound,” he said.
“We have to implement the curfew for the safety of our people,” Razon said. “We don’t want to give unscrupulous individuals the chance to take advantage of the situation at the expense of the general public.”
Puno also squelched speculations that the curfew would be in preparation for martial law. “Now there is no emergency situation,” he said.
“The President will not declare a state of emergency,” DOJ’s Gonzalez said.
Mrs. Arroyo praised her security forces for ending the standoff and vowed to get tough on dissidents. “There should be no doubt in upholding the rule of law and the ability of the government to right a wrong,” Mrs. Arroyo said. “The wrong and misguided moves of a few do not speak for the people or the PNP and the Armed Forces.” – with Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Roel Pareño, Ric Sapnu, Dino Balabo, AP
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