Arroyo Under Siege: Makati Standoff Ends, Regime Declares Curfew

By Carlos H. Conde

MANILA — Shortly after a police armored personnel carrier rammed through a hotel lobby in the Philippine capital, a group of soldiers and military officers announced they were ending the standoff with police that had begun this morning.

The seven-hour standoff at the Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City, Manila’s business district, ended with the arrest of several people, including a senator, a former vice president, a Catholic bishop and several journalists.

On Thursday evening, the government announced it was imposing a curfew beginning 12 midnight up to 5 am on Friday. The curfew will cover only Metro Manila and two nearby regions, said Reynaldo Puno, the interior secretary.

Puno said the curfew was necessary for what he called as “follow-up operations” by the police related to the hotel standoff. “Hopefully, we will not need to impose this for a second day,” Puno said. “We want to ensure that the entire Metro Manila will be safe and sound.”

The soldiers and officers had walked out of a nearby court earlier in the day, where they were being tried for participating in attempted coups in 2003 and 2006. They had taken over the five-star hotel, demanding the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who they accused of corruption and of cheating in the 2004 elections.

But minutes before the leaders of the group said they were leaving the hotel, police officers and SWAT teams surrounded the building, shots were fired and tear gas filled the hotel.

The armored personnel carrier rammed through the main entrance of the lobby, shattering glass doors and transforming what used to be one of the country’s most opulent hotel lobbies into a veritable war zone.

At least two people were injured in the incident, police said.

In a briefing at the presidential palace, Puno said the police arrested the journalists because they were “wittingly or unwittingly obstructing justice” when they refused to leave the hotel even when informed of an imminent police operation. He said the journalists would be “processed.”

Inside the hotel, the rebels said they were giving up because they feared that the violence would escalate and put the lives of civilians in the hotel in danger.

“We cannot live with our conscience if one of you will get hurt or killed in the cross-fire,” Antonio Trillanes IV, a former navy lieutenant and the leader of the group, told reporters. “We’re getting out for the sake of the safety of everybody,” he said.

After the soldiers and officers had surrendered, Trillanes, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, as well as several journalists, including cameramen and technicians of television networks, were handcuffed and shoved into a police bus. Police officials said the journalists were brought in for questioning.

The scene at the hotel Thursday was reminiscent of the same officers’ takeover of the nearby Oakwood hotel in July 2003, in which hundreds of soldiers took up arms against the Arroyo regime, complaining of corruption in the government and in the military.

Trillanes, who led the 2003 mutiny and who successfully ran for the Senate this year even while behind bars, said he had no regrets about today’s events. Brigadier General Danilo Lim, who is accused of leading a 2006 alleged coup attempt, defended the take-over of the hotel. “Dissent without action is consent,” he said.