Prosecutors filed rebellion charges yesterday against 37 dissident military officers and their supporters -- including a former vice president -- for a failed attempt to trigger an anti-government uprising while seizing a five-star hotel.
The seven-hour standoff was led by 14 officers who walked out of their trial on Thursday on earlier insurrection charges and immediately commandeered the Peninsula Hotel in Manila. They surrendered after government forces drove an armored carrier through the front entrance and fired tear gas and warning shots.
State prosecutors formally charged the suspects, led by Senator Antonio Trillanes, with rebellion after evaluating evidence, including seized weapons and plans allegedly indicating a wider plot to launch a "people power" revolt, a Justice Department resolution said.
Apart from Trillanes, a former navy lieutenant charged with a similar failed power grab in 2003, the former vice president and an opposition activist, Teofisto Guingona, and a retired Roman Catholic bishop were among those who are facing trial.
Guingona, the frail 79-year-old politician who had fallen out with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo years ago, was hospitalized due to an unspecified ailment following his arrest after last week's raid.
Retired Bishop Julio Labayen, an outspoken critic of Arroyo, also was released into custody of a fellow bishop.
Police said they were still hunting for at least four officers who escaped after taking over the hotel, including marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, who has been implicated in past coup attempts.
The government has put up a 1 million peso (US$23,250) reward for information leading to Faeldon's capture.
Arroyo survived three previous coup attempts and three opposition impeachment bids over alleged corruption and human rights abuses during her seven tumultuous years in power.
Before embarking on an eight-day visit to Europe on Saturday, Arroyo called the rebel soldiers desperate "lone wolves" who are blind to the people's wishes, and said government institutions and civil society are strong and stable. Arroyo planned to visit Spain, France and Britain.
During the hotel takeover, US-trained Brigadier General Danilo Lim -- suspected of involvement in another failed coup plot last year -- issued a statement urging Arroyo to resign and asking the armed forces to withdraw support for her.
But their disaffection failed to create a flashpoint for people to flood the streets against Arroyo.
Analysts spoke of a "people power" fatigue, and the fact the events were remarkably similar to four years ago, when the same officers tried the same tactic at another upscale hotel a few blocks away from the Peninsula -- only to give up after a day.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS