Detained Ex-Solon Linked To RP Coup Is Freed!

MANILA – A detained former Filipino lawmaker accused by authorities as involved in a failed coup against President Gloria Arroyo was freed Friday after posting bail.

Gregorio Honasan, an ex-military man, who led several coup attempts in the 1980s, is facing rebellion charges, but has been allowed to walk free by Judge Oscar Pimentel after paying bail of P200,000.

The 59-year old Honasan is running for a seat in the Senate. Honasan, who was arrested late last year after a massive government manhunt, denied all allegations against him.

Honasan was elected senator in 1995 and again in 2001. He was also implicated in a failed mutiny in 2003 after soldiers, calling themselves the Magdalo Group, seized a hotel at Makati’s financial district and demanded Arroyo’s resignation. (Mindanao Examiner)

Fugitive Coup Leader Arrested In RP

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Nov) – Police and military agents arrested at dawn a fugitive political opposition leader after a chase in Quezon City near the Philippine capital, reports said.

Gregorio Honasan, a former army colonel and senator, injured his foot after he tried to scale a wall to evade arrest inside the posh Green Meadows Subdivision.

His unidentified driver was also arrested by members of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Inteligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

He was rushed to a police hospital in Quezon City for treatement, but his injury, officials said was not life-threatening.

Television news videos showed Honasan inside a room - his foot in bandage – speaking to interrogators.Authorities linked Honasan to the failed coup in February. Honasan went into hiding after President Gloria Arroyo declared a state of national emergency.

Former senator Vicente Sotto said Honasan was arrested despite government negotiations for his surrender. “There were talks for his peaceful surrender,” Sotto, an ally of Honasan, said. (Mindanao Examiner)