Philippine police filed rebellion complaints yesterday against 50 military officers and their supporters -- including a former Philippine vice president -- following a failed attempt to trigger a "people power" revolt against the president.
The accused, most handcuffed to police escorts, were herded into a hall at police headquarters, where prosecutors read the complaints against them and presented evidence, including M16 assault rifles, ammunition, special armbands and two-way radios allegedly used in the failed uprising. The process continued until 1:30am yesterday.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called the men desperate "lone wolves" who are blind to the people's wishes.
"Instead of striving under our democracy to unite the country, their actions only stoke selfish motives for self-interest," Arroyo said. "May the Filipino people take comfort in the fact that government institutions and civil society are strong and stable. The rule of law prevailed."
One of the accused, former vice president Teofisto Guingona, was taken to a hospital due to an unspecified ailment. A Roman Catholic bishop was temporarily released to the custody of another bishop, prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said.
About 3,000 left-wing activists earlier called for Arroyo's ouster over alleged corruption and human rights violations during two previously planned protests in Manila to honor a prominent Filipino revolutionary hero, police said. They were blocked by police from approaching the presidential palace.
But those gatherings were tiny in comparison to the uprisings that ousted presidents in 2001 and 1986, and it appeared that Arroyo has survived yet another crisis.
The latest bid to oust her came on Thursday, when 14 soldiers walked out of their trial on earlier insurrection charges and commandeered the Peninsula Hotel.
They were led by Brigadier General Danilo Lim, who issued a statement urging Arroyo to resign and asking the armed forces to withdraw support for her.
The events were remarkably similar to four years ago, when the same officers tried a similar tactic at another upscale hotel a few blocks away.
The result was nearly the same too, though Arroyo -- clearly miffed that she continues to be dogged by attempts to oust her -- showed less tolerance this time, dispatching troops and police SWAT teams.
Of the 101 people arrested at the hotel, only 50 remained in custody on Friday. They were all charged with rebellion, Velasco said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS