The political war in the Philippines rages on, and just when I thought the political state would ease up a bit after the so-called former president Joseph Estrada was apparently "pardoned." Instead yet ANOTHER coup d'etat occurs.
This incidence has attracted an international following - image to the right care of New York Times. They NYT article called the event the "Hotel Stand-off in Manila." The image shows government soldiers preparing to enter the Peninsula Hotel in Manila, which was said to be "besieged" by rebel soldiers. The hotel had been taken over earlier by dissident military officers who demanded that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo resign.
I call it just plain sensationalism. I just came home from the office and I'm trying to piece this thing together. I do not wish to concern myself with political events such as this because I often find it a waste of my time. But seeing that I was just in Manila yesterday, I'm also a little perturbed.
Anyway in an attempt to get my mind around what just happened here's a summary of JUST THE FACTS from different news sources:
Apparently this "Hotel Stand off In Manila" Or "Manila Coup" as dubbed by BBC news started with a hearing of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 to the coup trial of Senator Antonio Trillanes and other junior officers allegedly involved in the botched July 2003 mutiny at the Oakwood Premier (now Ascott Hotel) in Makati City according to ABS-CBN News at 11:03 am Nov-28. The major personalities -- Sen. Antonio Trillanes and Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim marched out of Makati courtroom and joined civilians and uniformed military personnel armed with M-16 and M-14 rifles. The soldiers, some of whom were carrying Magdalo flags, marched along Makati Avenue towards the Ninoy Aquino Monument at the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Avenue in a report posted 30 minutes later.
At approximately 12noon, the reportedly "rebel" website catches the media's attention. The website calls on all Filipinos to withdraw support from the incumbent president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
At the same time an updated report mentions that the soldiers who marched along Makati Avenue had entered the Manila Peninsula Hotel. Reports said the group were holed up at the hotel's second floor, which has been transformed into a command center. There has been no mention if this was done in a decent or indecent manner.
At 12:51 pm Philippine time it is reported that an unarmed ranking police official entered the Manila Peninsula Hotel to negotiate with a group of rebel soldiers. By this time the Philippines national police (PNP) is said to be in full alert.
By 1:50 pm, another article on ABC-CBN news says that the "rebel" troops "stormed" the luxury Manila hotel. Stormed is very different from entered. People were going in and out of the Peninsula Hotel freely but a guest said he had been stopped by men with machine guns from going up to the second floor, where Lim and others were said to be planning their next move.
A report posted at 2:41 pm Director Geary Barias, National Capital Region Police Office director, said authorities have also asked all of the civilians inside the hotel to leave the building and that President Arroyo ordered the Philippine National Police to arrest rebel soldiers. Apparently they were given a 2:30 pm deadline to evacuate guests inside the hotel.
A few minutes later an article notes that the Philippine military is rushing around 1,500 troops to the capital Manila to crush a mutiny by rebel soldiers who have taken over a luxury hotel, a military spokesman said. He said at least three battalions of infantry, or about 1,500 soldiers, were on their way to the Makati business district of Manila where around 30 armed soldiers were holed up in the Peninsula Hotel. At the same time guests of Manila Peninsula hotel are evacuated to a bus that took them to Shangrila hotel just across the street.
According to Inquirer.net the Peninsula management said 310 out of the 497 rooms were occupied before Thursday's drama began. About 200 guests led the massive check-out, lining up in the reception area with hastily packed bags. Some carried their clothes in plastic bags.
Nearing 4pm, at least 50 Special Weapons and Tactics commandos wearing gas masks lined up outside the Manila Pensinsula hotel in Makati City to enforce the arrest of rebel soldiers after rebel soldiers refused to accept warrants for their arrest.
An hour later, tear gas canisters are fired into or lobbed at the hotel lobby of the Manila Peninsula and then a few minutes later a volley of gunfire. There is no mention, who made these shots, although Inquirer
Finally a military armored personnel carrier rammed through the main entrance of the Manila Peninsula Hotel. This is shortly followed by the dramatic surrender of coup d'etat leaders at around 6:30pm.
Inquirer.net update quoted him saying "We're going out for the sake of the safety of everybody, for your sake because we cannot live with our conscience if some of you get hurt or get killed in the crossfire," said Trillanes, addressing the media. He could have thought about that a few hours ago don't you think?
As the teargas filled the lobby, members of the rebel group herded journalists to the meeting room where civil society groups and Arroyo critics had gathered. Reporters and the renegade soldiers made makeshift facemasks of the hotel tablecloths to protect themselves from the teargas. The hotel corridors were a mess, with lamps and tables overturned during the commotion.
Media men who covered the takeover of Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City were also arrested, the news mentioned that they were taken in for "questioning."
It is now 8pm and apparently a curfew is about to befall the Manila area as well as surrounding regions as government forces attempt to hunt down more "rebels."
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