Botched Manila coup a warning to would-be plotters

MANILA - The Philippine government prepared fresh charges on Friday against the leaders of yet another botched coup and hunted for others as public apathy and a show of force sent a strong message to serial seditionists.

Senator Antonio Trillanes, one of the nation's best-known coup plotters, believed opposition politicians and the public would flock to Manila's Peninsula Hotel after he and a small group of renegade soldiers declared mutiny from one of its plush conference rooms on Thursday.

But no one came.

"I think the public is as much disgusted with the opposition as with the government," said Scott Harrison, managing director of risk consultants Pacific Strategies and Assessments Ltd.

"There is total regime change fatigue in the country. People don't have the stomach for it."

A few thousand anti-government protesters took part in a rally in Manila on Friday, a public holiday, but the numbers were a fraction of the tens of thousands that protested in the past.

In Thursday's drama, bizarre even by the soap opera world of Philippine politics, Trillanes simply walked out of the courthouse where he was on trial for a previous coup in 2003. Then he, his co-accused and the guards supposed to prevent them from escaping marched to the Peninsula in the heart of Manila's financial district.

But after such an embarrassingly easy start, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, breaking a long tradition for administrations' to go soft on renegade soldiers, ordered elite troops to storm the five-star hostelry.

An armoured personnel carrier battered down a grand glass door, and troops sprayed tear gas and bullets into the lobby.

There were no casualties but the heavy-handed tactics shocked the plotters who, as in previous mutinies, chose a plush hotel because they thought the location gave them protection.

"It's a pretty significant development," said Harrison. "I think the government have probably learned the lesson that if they don't tighten things up they are going to encourage more of these bush fires."

The Peninsula, which had to billet its 400 or so guests in other hotels and will not reopen until Monday at the earliest, was aghast at the damage to its newly renovated lobby.

"We are quite unhappy about that. Heart-broken to be exact," said spokesman Mariano Andres Garchitorena.

ADVENTURISM

Despite its deep dislike of Arroyo, the Philippine middle class, instrumental in two previous "people power" revolts, is weary of any upheaval that would trip up a reviving economy.

Although continually plagued by corruption allegations, Arroyo is seen as secure because of the jaded electorate and her strong majority in the lower house.

The Philippines has endured more than a dozen coup bids since the overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and the disgruntled officers behind these plots have traditionally been lauded as folk heroes.

Trillanes won a Senate seat this year despite being behind bars. But while the public rewarded his previous adventurism they did not want a repeat performance.

"The majority do not want any more trouble. It affects the economy. We want to change the government in a peaceful way," said Andrew Cruz, a call centre worker in Manila.

Trillanes, about a dozen soldiers and civilian supporters including a retired bishop and a former vice-president, were taken to the main police camp early on Friday.

National police chief Avelino Razon warned that the coup plot was still active and said the search was on for three other groups who had not been at the hotel. He said they were investigating how many of Trillanes' guards had switched sides.

A midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew was called off.

Authorities were expected to file sedition and rebellion charges against Trillanes and the soldiers on Monday when courts reopen.

The sentence for sedition is life imprisonment but erring soldiers have never been subject to such harsh punishment. Rebel troops have typically been dismissed, sometimes promoted and in one case in 1986, given 40 push-ups.

Analysts said Arroyo would be tougher on Trillanes' group this time around but they did not expect the leadership to impose draconian punishment for fear of upsetting the rank and file.