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National- Trillanes, Lim arrested; Makati standoff ends
inquirer.net on 12/01/2007 at 7:44am (UTC) | | | Trillanes, Lim arrested; Makati standoff ends
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:58pm (Mla time) 11/29/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier General Danilo Lim, have been arrested.
Former vice president Teofisto Guinogona joined the two inside the Philippine National Police bus.
The arrests on Lim and Trillanes were effected shortly after they declared that they were leaving the hotel where they held a six-hour siege to demand the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Trillanes and his group decided to end the standoff after government troops threw teargas at the hotel lobby and an armored personnel carrier rammed the entrance.
"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.
"If there's a loser here it's the Filipino nation because she's [Arroyo] still there," he added, noting that he was ready to face the consequences of his action.
Brigadier General Danilo Lim, who was with Trillanes, said this was not the end, calling the incident an “unfinished business.”
Guingona said, “In every crisis there is a solution and in this short crisis the solution is to save lives to prevent bloodshed.”
In a press conference, Trillanes tried to justify his action, saying: “I stand before you today to fulfill my role as a former soldier and now as a senator of this country. I am standing for the rights of the oppressed.”
On his group’s decision to leave the hotel, Trillanes blamed the administration’s “ruthlessness.”
“You have been witnesses to the kind of ruthlessness this administration has been giving to the people,” said Trillanes.
When asked what he was going to do after this, Trillanes said, “Like soldiers, we’re going to face this.”
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.
Police Director Geary Barias of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) led the assault.
Earlier, police failed to serve the arrest warrant against Trillanes issued by Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati regional trial court.
Pimentel has found Trillanes guilty of contempt of court.
Trillanes had said that he would stay at the Manila Peninsula for “as long as necessary” after claiming that “nothing will happen” after the 3 p.m. deadline for their departure lapsed.
“What we did was not only our duty but our moral obligation,” said Trillanes said in justifying his latest act of defiance, adding, “It is our duty as religious individuals to do what is right.”
“Dumaan tayo sa tamang pamamaraan [We passed through the right processes]. Elected pero wala ring nangyari [We were elected but nothing happens]. They voted for me so that I can speak up for their rights and our advocacies,” said Trillanes, referring to his election as senator last May.
He has been barred from participating in the Senate sessions because of the criminal cases that had been filed against him.
Earlier in the day, Barias left the Manila Peninsula without talking to Trillanes despite setting the 3 p.m. deadline.
A rebel soldier in uniform said Barias was “causing too much trouble.”
Barias had ordered all guests to vacate the premises supposedly pending the results of negotiations between the government and Trillanes.
“I am asking all guests of the hotel to leave so that we can do our jobs,” Barias said in a live interview earlier in the day.
Mariano Garchitorena, head of the Public Relations office of the Manila Peninsula, described the situation at the hotel as “calm” and said that if the order of the authorities was to vacate, they would follow it “like good citizens.”
Garchitorena said they had around 400 guests but that he didn't know how many had left before the pro-Trillanes forces blocked the exits.
Trillanes and other officers accused of leading the July 2003 rebellion walked out of their trial Thursday and marched through the streets of Makati calling for the ouster of Arroyo.
The soldiers, numbering around 30, were accompanied by armed guards as they broke down a door of the hotel, overwhelmed security guards and read out a statement against Arroyo with a full list of their demands.
Heavily-armed government troops quickly surrounded the hotel in Manila's Makati financial district -- the same location of a failed 2003 coup against Arroyo allegedly led by many of the same soldiers.
The renegades urged Arroyo to resign and called on the military, a central power in this vast Southeast Asian island nation with the power to make and break its leaders, to turn against her.
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 Brigadier General Danilo Lim, a co-accused, and others were said to be planning their next move.
The surprise events appeared to have been well orchestrated.
A detailed website immediately appeared on the Internet, announcing Lim and Trillanes as the leaders of the uprising. The site called on the Filipino people to mass in the financial district.
All the soldiers were sporting red armbands with what appeared to be the letter "I" emblazoned in the middle of a white sun.
The walkout began shortly after the trial resumed after a brief recess. Lim, who himself is detained and facing coup d’etat charges following an alleged failed coup attempt in February 2006, was pulled away by several soldiers from the witness stand.
Trillanes and Lim said they were calling on the Filipinos to withdraw support from the government because the President has corrupted its institutions.
“We are joining the people… because the President continues to violate the Constitution of the Philippines repeatedly,” Lim told DZMM’s Teleradyo program, adding they were “calling for the removal of an illegitimate President.”
Trillanes, Lim and the other accused soldiers were joined by civilians, including a group of militant farmers and opposition figures led by former vice president Teofisto Guingona.
It was not clear if the prisoners’ guards had joined the protest, but they marched along with the accused.
Reports culled by INQUIRER.net reporters and staff said police have barricaded the streets leading to Ayala Avenue and that two military trucks had crossed Paseo de Roxas.
Four Army trucks and anti-riot police have barricaded the hotel, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño said Trillanes and Lim spoke rightly.
“This government does not deserve the support of the armed forces and the people. We express solidarity with their cause and likewise call on President Arroyo to heed the people's clamor,” he said.
In a statement, the Black and White Movement said that it was “adding its voice to those who want change.”
It calls on the nation to “stand for what is right.”
It said the problem was not the people “but the President” as it reiterated its call for her to resign.”
But at the same time, the movement called on all sides to “resist the temptation to resolve matter in an undemocratic manner.”
“We call for sobriety. We call for a peaceful resolution to these crises. We call, most of all, for all our officials to recognize, once and for all, that dignity is not dispensable, that justice is non-negotiable, that if the lying, cheating, killing, and stealing continues, peace will not return,” it said.
There have been at least seven coup attempts in the Philippines since 1986 as the armed forces have maintained a central role in the nation's political life since the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos that year.
But Arroyo has been under particular pressure since a tape recording emerged of her allegedly conniving with an election commission official to help orchestrate her 2004 re-election.
She admitted it was a mistake to have called the official while the vote count had not yet been finished, but denied any wrongdoing.
Since then she has fought off impeachment attempts -- while being regularly accused of having improperly won the election -- as well as actual and alleged coups.
Thursday's dramatic events came just a month after Arroyo gave her predecessor and nemesis, popular ex-film star Joseph Estrada, a presidential pardon on charges of corruption.
The government said the pardon was granted after the 70-year-old Estrada agreed not to pursue any elective office.
He has always insisted his 2001 ouster from the presidential palace was a coup organized by the military, the powerful Catholic Church and the country's political elites.
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General- Traffic in Rosario
TheRiscianArmy on 12/01/2007 at 7:35am (UTC) | | | 8 p.m. at Rosario, Pasig. A tragic hitting of two transportations happened which caused heavy traffic last, Nov. 29.
A Mini RRCG Bus hitted the white car and which caused heavy traffic and difficulties in finding a transportation.
Luckily, no one were hurt at the accident. The car was'nt damaged very seriously so the driver went away easily in the area. | | | |
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Wandering around- Stefanie of 1-HOPE
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Last November 29, 2007, as I wander at the sides of Greenhills, I am surprised seeing Stefanie of 1-Hope! A Riscian!
I called her by her name she didn't noticed me. I noticed that she is listening to her mp3 player so that's why she can't hear me. | | | |
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Wandering around- 2nd year group travels
TheRiscianArmy on 12/01/2007 at 6:30am (UTC) | | | When the SM Taytay was built, Riscians used to go there everytime they like.
As I wander around at SM Taytay, a group of Sophomores were eating their lunch at Jolibee. There were at least five of them eating.
I am very excited to call them but I haven't had a chance.
Maybe next time we'll see each other again at other restaurants or at The National Bookstore. | | | |
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