Soldiers in failed uprising claim moral
victory
MANILA - Disgruntled rebel Philippine troops claimed a moral
victory yesterday despite being forced to return dejected to
barracks after their failed military uprising in central
Manila.
The young, battle-tested and idealistic military officers and
enlisted men reluctantly agreed to end their 22-hour siege and be
court-martialled after the authorities agreed to consider demands
for a probe into allegations of military and government
corruption.
'We were ready to die but gave up for the sake of our comrades in
the military and the interest of the people and country,' said Navy
officer Antonio Trillanes, 31, the self-styled group leader.
'We have already planted the seeds, we will just have to bite the
bullet and roll with the punches. Hopefully, we have inspired
others - that is our significant contribution to the
country.'
He and his 300-odd men ended their occupation of an upmarket
apartment and shopping complex in the Makati financial centre after
intense negotiations with government, opposition and military
officials.
In the end, sources close to the negotiations said, the key figures
of the mutiny - whose average age was 27 years - were largely
influenced by colleagues from their alma mater, the Philippine
Military Academy, where they belonged to a class renowned for its
brilliance and idealism.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Narciso
Abaya agreed he would create a special panel to study the officers'
complaints.
But Lieutenant Trillanes, who had spoken
to President Gloria Arroyo about his grievances before the revolt,
sounded dejected in a television interview.
'This country has no moral resolve to reform. These reforms will
not come in my lifetime.'
He had documented irregularities in the military in a controversial
thesis he submitted for a master's degree at the University of the
Philippines last year.
The rebel leader who topped his class at the military academy said
he would quit soldiery and teach.
But local pundits suggested he should follow Senator Gregorio
Honasan's career path.
Briefly jailed in the late 1980s for leading a series of deadly
coup attempts against then president Corazon Aquino, cashiered army
colonel 'Gringo' Honasan won a presidential pardon in 1993, was
elected to the Senate, and is now running for president.
Eugene Gonzalez, another rebel military officer, said the revolt
was a reminder to the country's leaders to 'serve with sincerity',
adding his group was prepared to face the music for its
action.
Hailing from elite military units, the mutineers identified
themselves as 'the Magdalo group', a name similar to one used by a
Filipino revolutionary who fought Spanish colonial rule in the 19th
century.
The group had accused their military leadership of selling arms to
rebels from the country's biggest separatist Muslim group, the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the communist guerilla force the
New People's Army, and the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom
group.
The mutineers, who colleagues say also hold a sterling combat
record, said they had come across ammunition from captured rebel
camps with Department of National Defence markings.
'These bullets are the same ones killing our fellow soldiers in the
field,' complained Captain Gerardo Gambala, another core leader of
the siege.
The mutineers also accused Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes and a
military intelligence chief of 'masterminding' bombings against
civilians in the south in a bid to declare the MILF a terrorist
group and get more US funding for the anti-terror campaign.
And they accused the military leadership of planning bombings in
Manila in a bid to extend Mrs Arroyo's stay in power through
martial law.
Capt Gambala said the blasts would be blamed on other groups,
citing the recent escape of Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman
al-Ghozi as 'essential to this operation'. -- AFP
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,202077-1059515940,00.html?
