Trillanes, Lim, Guingona, Tobias, and the Magdalo soldiers take over another Makati hotel (updated with videos)

Author: Dennison Uy

29 Nov

Gen Lim issuing his statement
(photo of Lim issuing the group’s statement requesting for the people’s support in bringing down the Gloria Arroyo administration)

I was driving to the Ortigas Stock Exchange on what was supposed to be another slow Thursday while listening to my daily dose of “Tambalang Failon at Korina” on the AM radio when all of a sudden the reports came flooding in: Sen. Antonio Trillanes, Gen. Danny Lim, and the Magdalo soldiers has walked out of their court proceedings and began storming the streets of Makati, followed by reporters and some civilians and some “heavily armed” MPs.

Where are they headed? Another group is supposedly gathering and making its way to the Ninoy Aquino stadium. Is this a coordinated attack? What are they marching for?

Trillanes Makati march
(photo by Ellen Tordesillas)

Below is a video of General Lim’s public statement:

The reporters come in with an update: “Senator Antonio Trillanes and his group are calling for another people power”.

Throughout the march some motorists were hoking to the tune of the People Power honk (4 honks in rapid succession). People have gone down the buildings and out on the streets, some were cheering or clapping as they passed by.

The long march ended at the Manila Penninsula Hotel, where they give a brief press conference and a message — put briefly, the present administration has not respected Trillanes’ position as an elected public servant, and it no longer upholds any moral ascendancy, thus they are calling for a change in the current administration.

They plan to stay there and “see what the administration will do”.

Whatever happens, one thing is for sure: the nation is once again divided.

17 Responses for "Trillanes, Lim, Guingona, Tobias, and the Magdalo soldiers take over another Makati hotel (updated with videos)"

Meljun February 16th, 2008 at 1:43 pm 1
After the Manila Peninsula siege, were now at the ZTE NBN scandal, despite of this issue GMA and allies want to amend the constitution one of her political agenda is CHACHA….Why? What’s in CHACHA? to change our system of government?! just to preserve her plan and allies to continue making there work of graft and corruption…I think there is nothing wrong to our system of Government, the only problem is our statesman…I conclude that GMA wants to prolong her office and work of corruption….I am ANTI-GMA….TAMA NA! SOBRE NA! PALITAN NA!

Meljun R. Banogon
Hist. and Pol.Sci. Dept. Silliman University
mike paahana January 26th, 2008 at 6:17 am 2
notice the filipinos taking over hawaii 2 my gf father filipino an he so dum
general_nathaniel January 7th, 2008 at 3:17 pm 3
kill for aroyo
general_nathaniel January 7th, 2008 at 3:11 pm 4
pakawalan nyo si trillanes
laurence December 6th, 2007 at 8:18 pm 5
pakita nyo vedeo
Jerome December 5th, 2007 at 4:09 am 6
I agree with you sweet_john that we are all tired of being abused by our politicians but I think majority of us choose to turn a blind eye / “dedma” na lang because and the end of the day we all just want to move on with our lives. It’s a mediocre way of thinking but just look at how quickly people have forgotten about the Trillanes incident. Now it’s just another shameful day in history that would rather be forgotten.
siegfried_ton_ton December 4th, 2007 at 7:57 pm 7
i think we are facing into a civil war.
sweet_ john_seyer_patcheez December 3rd, 2007 at 3:07 pm 8
I believe in Trillanes, his issues on military corruption and wanting to stop corruption. Im also tired of Gloria bullying around and exploiting her powers espeically to her political enemies. I also want her out of her post but not Trillanes’s way.. so stupid of all the places why Makati?? its a business area where people have a good understanding about economy and stuff, where in people could think that at least GMA is a lesser evil.
they are complaining ang whining about her cheating on elections.. just when did we have a clean election???..i agree with Lando’s comment that way we can be productive and help our country this is what Trillanes should be doing instead of whining like a baby.. Media(Ch 2), Politicians, extremist, leftist, rebels, churches and etc.. Do not under estimate people’s ability of making a decision.. Those 2 successful people power occasions didn’t need a calling from any of you or your leadership.. people from all walks of life just went out and expressed themselves with a unified mindset. We went out, grouped ourselves, we marched and then we chose who would lead us. We don’t need you to topple down an extremely tiring corrupt government, we just need ourselves (the wise and effective majority) and we always do it at the reasonable time that’s why it always ends with great success.
P.S. we might have chanted and clapped for Trillanes but at the time he did what he did in Pen we said: ” Just what the F*** is he doin??!!!…
Jerome December 2nd, 2007 at 2:08 am 9
Chest beaters and cyber activists … we will never run out of those. Just look at the commenters at http://www.quezon.ph/?p=1603

All they ever do is rant and rant and discuss all day. What a waste of time and energy.
Lando December 1st, 2007 at 9:23 am 10
No matter what the extreme minority of chest beaters and cyber activist say in the media or the internet. The truth is the Filipino people is tried of these so called “uprisings.” All we want right now is to make a good living, feed our families and survive.
Jerome November 30th, 2007 at 6:06 pm 11
I agree with you KC it looks like they just want to shoot the air and crash the hotel to show the people that they are actually “doing something” but it was really an unnecessary show of force if you ask me because Trillanes and his group walked and and walked out peacefully anyway so the only violence that happened was the military trashing the hotel.
KC Velasco November 30th, 2007 at 6:04 pm 12
Medyo overkill naman yata ang ginawa ng gobyerno natin hindi naman siguro kinakailangang tadtarin ng bala at wasakin ang harap ng hotel kitang kita naman sa dami ng mga sundalong rumesponde na wala silang laban. Nagmumukha tuloy katanga tanga ang PNP at ang military dahil hindi nila kayang tapatan ang isang maliit na grupo kailangang ipdala pa nila ang isang buong army para lang dakpin sina Trillanes.
Inquirer Editorial November 30th, 2007 at 5:47 pm 13
Inquirer Editorial (11/29/2007)

Suicide

In the same way that a sinner finds there is a pattern to his sins, ex-coup plotters or former mutinous soldiers end up repeating old battle plans, even those that failed to work the first time. On Thursday, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the leader of the Magdalo mutineers who took over the Oakwood apartment building in 2003, was once again at the forefront of a mutiny of sorts. He led a small group of soldiers and civilians — initially estimated at around 30 or so — in a forced takeover of a luxury hotel in the middle of the Makati Central Business District. His objective was to force President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign.

He was joined by Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, a respected soldier who has taken part in previous coup attempts and was implicated in the Fort Bonifacio “standoff” that led to the declaration of a state of emergency in February 2006. In that standoff, mutinous military leaders called on the Catholic bishops to come to their aid. Only two of the country’s hundred or so bishops responded favorably to this latest act of adventurism, with one of them saying he just happened to be at the hotel when Trillanes and company arrived in force.

In other words, this armed undertaking had failure written all over it. It had the DNA of the ineptly executed Oakwood mutiny and the inadequately prepared-for standoff. The idea that a commander-in-chief can be forced out of office by taking over a secluded building in Makati was ridiculous in 2003; it is only pathetic now. The idea that a mass of supporters, the possible nucleus of a People Power uprising, will throng to an inaccessible camp was preposterous in 2003; it remains risible today.

Let us be clear. The Arroyo administration, and especially the heavy-handed leadership of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, is responsible for deepening the frustration of the officers and soldiers facing various charges related to the mutiny and the standoff. They have not received the kind of respectful treatment they may have expected from their brother-soldiers; they have reason to feel sorely aggrieved, even deliberately humiliated.

At the same time, there is no excuse for what Trillanes and company have done.

The intellectual dishonesty of lawyer JV Bautista, calling the armed entry into the Manila Peninsula hotel a “political act” and not an action contemptuous of the very court Trillanes and Lim had walked out of, is self-evident. The arrest warrants newly issued against Trillanes and Lim were signed by the same judge they had disrespected.

But worse than Bautista’s attempt at spin was Trillanes’ own political arrogance or rank ignorance (it is hard to tell which), where he all but offered himself, a newly elected senator, as an alternative to an “illegitimate” president. Any hope of the young radical reaching out to the millions of Filipinos who are deeply unhappy over President Arroyo’s performance died the moment he said that: It was incredible hubris — and the very opposite of the issue-oriented politics he says he advocates.

Before surrendering, Trillanes explained Thursday’s bizarre caper as a logical outcome of his “moral obligation” as a public official and ex-soldier. This is, we are afraid, a deeply misguided reading of his duties. He cynically put people in harm’s way, exploited the reporters and cameramen who covered him as his own protective shield, deliberately harmed the country’s image — and for what? To prove to the nation that his alternative to the “ruthlessness” of the Arroyo presidency was his own brand of incompetence.

It seems Trillanes’ victory in the May 2007 polls made him forget the lasting lessons of the July 2003 mutiny: As the public opinion polls showed soon afterwards, the people sympathized with them and their cause, but vigorously condemned the violent path they had chosen.

“Dissent without action is consent,” Lim told the nation. He could be right, but even if we were to take him at his word, we still need to ask: Is “action” necessarily defined in terms of violence? That way lies mass suicide.
Conflicted November 30th, 2007 at 4:41 pm 14
Like Trillanes, I too believe that GMA ought to be ousted. However, I disagree with his methods. He could have done his grandstanding at the Ninoy monument or somewhere where people can participate … maybe he could even have walked all the way to the EDSA shrine to show his dedication and heart, but no he chose to cause trouble for a lot of innocent people and foreigners by hijacking a hotel.

Did he not learn anything from the Oakwood mutiny? He could have done it in an open area where people can easily gather, and it was evident during his march to Manila Penn that there were supporters — people went down from the buildings, clapping, cheering, and showing support. Passersby and motorists were honking their horns to the EDSA Rev tune.

The moment he entered that hotel, his cause was lost. He was probably doing this partly to save his skin, but he had the sympathy of the anti-GMA mass. This could have turned into something really big but in the end it was nothing but a huge disappointment. He is nothing now but a coward and a loser.

When we commonfolk marched the streets of EDSA we did not have to carry guns or any weapons, and we have already ousted 2 presidents. On the other hand this moron and idiot had a bunch of guns around him yet he had to cower inside a hotel. Was he afraid he will get assassinated if he did his grandstanding in an open area? Well, how is his current situation be better than that?

And he tells us that he has enough willpower to bring the current administration down. Yeah, right.

Of course, Minime was very wise and she wasted no time to exploit the situation by arresting civilians and mediamen and bringing down an EO for a curfew a la Martial Law era, so that the people will blame all the inconvenience on Trillanes and his group. Not only that, who do you think will pay for all the damages incurred by the hotel not to mention one day lost business? No, not the government — they weren’t supposed to be there if not for Trillanes, so they will have to be the ones to pay. Heck, the government could have bombed the entire building and it will still be Trillanes’ fault. Very wise of the administration. Very very stupid of Trillanes, Lim, and the rest of the Magdalo losers. They tried to be a hero but fell short. How is this any better than ending up dead?
skeptrons November 30th, 2007 at 7:43 am 15
I AM PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO! LONG LIVE MAGDALO!
skeptrons November 30th, 2007 at 7:40 am 16
MRS. PRESIDENT MUST ADDRESS THE CRY OF THE PEOPLE AND THAT IS TO RESIGN! THE PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER HAPPY BY THE WAY SHE RUN THE GOVERNMENT. IF ONLY I WILL BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO CHANGE EVERYTHING, I WILL 1ST CHANGE THE PRESIDENT!
http://freewebs.com/smartpencil November 29th, 2007 at 11:21 pm 17
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