Police, military say Peninsula Hotel takeover was “well-planned”

By Ronron
November 30, 2007

The police and military believe the takeover on Thursday by Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and the Magdalo Group led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City was planned and not a spur-of-the-moment.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. said late Thursday night that a document was seized from the hotel during clearing operations, which showed four teams were supposed to carry out the destabilization plot.

The document was a piece of bondpaper with handwritings on both sides.

"We got this document from the hotel and it shows that there are four teams that are part of the plan. So we are looking for three more teams now," Razon told reporters at Camp Crame.

Razon refused to say if the groups were from the civilian security or military, saying the names written were just codes, such as Gambit, Zorro, Regulasyon, Sniper, Abdul, and Alabat, among others.

But Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. was quick to say in a separate interview yesterday that the four teams are “military teams,” probably belonging to the Magdalo Group.

Esperon disclosed that they actually preempted a possible reinforcement from a unit composed of less than 100 officers and enlisted personnel who are sympathetic to Trillanes.

He refused, however, to say which unit are they from, or based, except that they are allegedly former companions of Trillanes. Esperon said they are still investigating if the group has connection with Col. Ariel Querubin, another accused coup plotter now detained at the Army camp in Tanay, Rizal.

“I must tell you that they are sticking to the chain of command… Some people who are being invited to join reported to their commanding officers,” Esperon said.

He said the group was actually planning to move in at Makati City early Thursday morning.

Esperon said they currently have in their custody some security personnel assigned to Trillanes and other Magdalo soldiers. These are apart from those apprehended by the PNP.

“They are with us for debriefing. They were reported to sympathize with Trillanes but the reason why they were walking with Trillanes and Lim was that they have responsibility as custodians of the two, so they could not just get away from them,” Esperon said.

“We will do something about them,” Esperon said of the supposed reinforcement personnel.

Razon refused to disclose the supposed plots as stated in the document, saying they are conducting follow up operations on the matter.

Razon said the document would indeed show "there is conspiracy" and that the incident was "planned." Among the possible conspirators they are looking at are the security details of the Magdalo Group and Lim.

"We are conducting a thorough investigation to find out as much as we can on the plot. This was planned and I think Trillanes himself admitted it in his statement (Thursday) morning... We are exploiting the leads," he said.

It is on this premise that they are planning to file rebellion charges against those who participated in the takeover.

Another basis for saying that it was a well-planned activity is the reports they received that some supporters of the Magdalo group have actually checked in at the hotel ahead of the takeover.

“We are trying to confirm this report,” Razon said.

Razon admitted, however, that they did not expect Trillanes, Lim and the other
Magdalo soldiers to walk out of the hearing at the Makati City Regional Trial Court earlier on Thursday, even as the police already had prior intelligence reports of a destabilization plot to be coincided with mass movements for the Bonifacio Day celebration Friday.

He said they are investigating too why there were no policemen who were able to stop the march of the group.

“I did not even receive an account of the police about that incident. I did not receive any report. I got the news from the media, and not the police,” Razon said.

He disclosed that Makati City Police chief Supt. Gilbert Cruz is currently in Bangkok, Thailand for a seminar.

Meanwhile, on Monday morning, the 48th Infantry Battalion, which came from the Northern Luzon Command based in Tarlac, arrived at Camp Aguinaldo to augment the National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM).

Esperon said a Light Reaction Battalion of the Philippine Army may also be sent to Manila for contingency.

Asked how the President reacted to the resolution of the Peninsula Hotel takeover, Razon said she congratulated him and asked that he convey the same message to all policemen down the line.

"She was happy... She just said to conduct thorough investigation and get to the bottom of this. And we are gaining headway in our investigation," Razon said./DMS