(29 Nov 2007)
545402
AP TELEVISION
Manila - 29 Nov 2007
1. Armed troops running behind an armoured personnel carrier towards hotel
2. Wide shot of Peninsula Hotel
3. Troops running towards hotel with audible gunshots in the background
4. Army troops firing at hotel
5. Teargas and smoke billowing up from lobby
6. Rebel troops crouching inside hotel
7. Armoured personnel carrier inside hotel lobby
8. Soldiers wearing gas masks securing hotel interior
STORYLINE:
On November 29th an attempted coup by rebel Philippine soldiers was crushed after hundreds of government troops stormed a five-star Manila hotel and arrested the renegade troops.
President Gloria Arroyo dispatched the soldiers and SWAT teams after dissident military officers commandeered the luxury Peninsula after walking out of their trial for an earlier coup attempt.
The officers, who demanded that Arroyo resign over allegations that her government was corrupt, agreed to surrender as clouds of tear gas rose from the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel.
Security forces used an armoured personnel carrier to smash through the roped-shut front doors and fired volleys of warning shots.
Shortly after the seven-hour incident ended the government announced a midnight-5 a.m. curfew for Manila and the surrounding area while follow-up operations were conducted, with checkpoints set up and the military and police on red alert.
At least two people were injured during the assault on the hotel in Makati, Manila's business district. A leader of the dissident officers agreed to leave peacefully to avoid bloodshed.
"Like soldiers, we are going to face this," said Antonio Trillanes, a former navy officer who was elected to the Senate in May, campaigning from detention.
The military men and their civilian sympathisers - including former Vice President Teofisto Guingona - were led in groups to waiting police buses.
Guingona said, "This crisis is a microcosm of the crisis facing the nation."
It was not immediately clear if they were being arrested or taken in for questioning.
Several journalists were also detained.
After the incident Arroyo spoke on national television offering reassurances that any further coup attempts would be quickly quelled.
"My countrymen, I commend the law enforcement authorities supported by elements of the armed forces for resolving the Makati standoff quickly and efficiently. I direct that all residual threats, if any, be mopped up to fully restore law and order," President Arroyo said.
The first shots erupted about 75 minutes after a deadline passed for the men to surrender in the face of contempt of court warrants filed against them.
Joined by other dissident officers and leaders from the opposition and the left, the coup defendants clearly were trying to foster the Philippines' third "people power" revolt, making phone calls and sending cell phone text messages seeking to generate crowds to support them.
But as the day wore on and hotel guests were evacuated, few people turned out for the latest effort to oust Arroyo, who has survived at least three coup plots and three impeachment efforts during nearly seven tumultuous years in power.
The trial for Trillanes and his co-defendants is over a 2003 insurrection in which troops commandeered a shopping centre and hotel and demanded Arroyo's ouster.
They denounced the government and military corruption, but were accused of staging a failed coup. They surrendered after the daylong uprising.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
