Mutinous soldiers in the Philippines chose a five-star hotel as the scene of a bungled coup attempt in Manila today, before being overrun by tear gas and an armoured car. The gang of several dozen soldiers led by a senator had escaped earlier in the morning from a court where they were standing trial for seizing a shopping centre during a coup attempt in 2003. They were joined at the Peninsular Hotel by a retired general, a bishop and other sympathisers.
A witness, Peter Parcel, said he had dropped in for coffee and "then all this coup stuff started". He added: "They just stormed in and took over the hotel."
Armed men took guard on the staircases and at the entrance. The police and army arrived outside and, after an ultimatum for the mutineers to surrender expired, shooting started. "It was terrible," Mr Parcel said. "Gunfire was pouring in through the windows."
At least two people were reported wounded.
The Philippines has a long history of coups and "people power" uprisings. In 1986, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was toppled after a mutiny sparked a popular movement.
This coup attempt was at least the eighth occasion since then when soldiers have tried to overthrow the government. President Gloria Arroyo herself came to power in a popular movement supported by the army against president Joseph Estrada in 2001.
The would-be coup leader this time was Antonio Trillanes, a youthful former naval officer who was elected to the senate in May while in detention awaiting trial for the shopping centre affair.
Inside the hotel, the conspirators launched a campaign of text messages and phone calls in an attempt to stir another popular uprising. Senator Trillanes's website declared: "If you believe you are a man of will and courage with unselfish motives and brave enough to fight against such tyranny, RISE UP AND BE COUNTED!" But no popular support appeared and as teargas was fired into the building, the final fiasco became inevitable.
Live television pictures showed the mutineers and journalists on the second floor of the hotel struggling to cope with the effects of the gas. By mobile telephone, Senator Trillanes announced: "For the sake of the civilians, we are coming out."
But even as he spoke, television footage showed an armoured car battering its way through the hotel's grand entrance, followed by soldiers in full combat gear and gas masks. As he waited for the gas to clear sufficiently for him to surrender and leave through the hotel lobby, an emotional looking Senator Trillanes told journalists: "Now, like soldiers, we are going to face this. They will do whatever they do to us."
Standing next to him, his ally General Danilo Lim, who is suspected of plotting a coup in 2006, warned: "There is unfinished business here." A priest led the group in prayer as they prepared to leave.
"All that's happened is these guys have bought themselves a few extra years in jail," said Erin Prelypchan, the director of operations at Pacific, Strategies and Assessments.
Richard Gordon, a prominent member of the country's senate, told the Daily Telegraph: "There is no popular support any more for changing leaders on the streets. We are only two years away from elections. There was no point in this, the whole country loses."