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.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS