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Monday, July 28, 2003
CRISIS OVER Rebel soldiers back to barracks
MANILA---Nearly 300 rebel soldiers agreed late last night to return to barracks and to face military justice, bringing a tense one-day mutiny to an end.
“The crisis in Makati is over,” President Arroyo announced with a huge smile on nationwide television, after marathon talks with leaders of 296 soldiers who took over the Oakwood apartment complex in the financial district.
Arroyo will deliver her traditional State of the Nation Address before Congress today, as the country awaits the mutiny’s effects on markets and the economy.
“The 296 soldiers, including 70 officers, are standing down and returning to barracks. They will be investigated and their cases will be disposed of in accordance with the articles of war,” President Arroyo said at 10:12 p.m., in her second address of the day.
“They have not asked for and they shall not be given special treatment.”
The group’s spokesman, Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, said that until the end, the “Magdalo group” remained ready to die for their cause, but decided to yield after negotiations.
Rebel soldiers began defusing bombs they had laid to booby-trap an apartment block they had seized, following Arroyo’s announcement that the rebellion was over.
Heavily-armed mutineers, wearing red armbands and some wearing masks to cover their mouths, cut the wirings of C-4 military explosives strewn around the Oakwood apartment complex and its surroundings in the Makati financial district.
The rebel soldiers were seen pushing back a horde of reporters to defuse bombs placed near buildings and under coconut trees and plants.
Triumphant
President Arroyo thanked the leaders of Congress, the church, civil society and the international community for supporting her government during the one-day mutiny.
“I assure the world that this event does not in any way injure our national security and political stability. Once more, this has been a triumph for democracy,” Arroyo said.
Earlier in the day, she gave the mutineers until 5 p.m. to “stand down and return to barracks.” While saying she did not take their actions personally, Arroyo said she was saddened that the young officers “had gone astray.”
She later moved the deadline to 7 p.m.
She delayed an assault because a government negotiator was locked in talks with rebel leaders beyond that second deadline, her spokesman said.
In an earlier televised address, President Arroyo warned the rebels she had authorized the chief of staff to use “reasonable force” to retake the complex.
“You have crossed the line of professionalism and are now engaged in unlawful political action backed by the use of force,” she said, after telling the mutineers she was their commander-in-chief. “Your actions are already hovering at the fringes of outright terrorism.”
Despite the peaceful resolution, officials said the officers who led the uprising will face military justice.
The soldiers involved are “answerable to the articles of war,” which governs the conduct of men in uniform, retired former military chief Roy Cimatu told reporters separately as he announced the results of several hours of talks.
Consequences
He said he expected the rebel leaders to be “gentlemen enough to face whatever the consequences of their actions.”
The soldiers seized a high-rise service apartment and shopping complex early yesterday after Arroyo announced that she had foiled a coup plot.
They had demanded that she and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes resign, accusing them of corruption as well as of sponsoring terrorism.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Narciso Abaya said the rebels were escorted to the Fort Bonifacio army headquarters in southern Manila.
“That’s where they’re going to stay overnight, then tomorrow they will go back to their barracks,” Abaya added.
Cimatu, who led the government side in talks with the rebels, said the authorities also “sanitized” the apartment complex, which had been booby-trapped by the rebels.
The rebels had denied the group was trying to stage a coup, and claimed to have some 2,000 military supporters.
Military intelligence chief Brigadier General Victor Corpus said “big-time” personalities were behind the coup, while police raided a house owned by jailed former president Joseph Estrada where they alleged they found ammunition.
Accusations
Rumors that a military clique was plotting to overthrow the government gripped Manila last week, but Arroyo dismissed them when she met with a group of junior officers unhappy over pay and corruption.
The mutineers yesterday accused the government of selling ammunition and weapons to Muslim separatist and communist rebels.
The group also accused Arroyo of planning to declare martial law in August, by using bombings in the capital as a pretext to stay in power after her term ends following the May 2004 elections. She has promised not to run for office.
The United States advised US citizens in the Philippines to remain at home and steer clear of all public gatherings, even after the mutiny came to a peaceful end after a tense 18-hour standoff.
“Remain calm and alert,” the US embassy in Manila said in a notice to Americans in the Philippines. “Remain in your residence and avoid going out and public gatherings.”
On Saturday, the State Department warned of “immediate negative consequences” to US-Philippines relations if a military coup had taken place.
Under US law, Washington must halt all non-humanitarian assistance to countries in which a freely elected government is toppled by non-democratic means. (AFP) |
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