Manila, July 27: President Gloria Arroyo today warned about 200 military rebels holed up in the Philippines financial district to surrender by 5:00 pm (1430 IST) or face an all-out government assault. "I am giving you up to five o`clock this afternoon to stand down, surrender your weapons and return to barracks," she said in a nationwide television and radio address.
"Failing this, the military would be authororized to use reasonable force to dislodge your group quickly and efficiently," she added. Disgruntled soldiers had early this morning stormed a major commercial centre in Manila`s financial district, hours after President Arroyo ordered the arrest of mutinous junior officers believed to be plotting a coup.
Men in camouflage uniforms wired explosives at 3 am (0030 IST) in the parking lot of the Glorietta Complex, which includes one of the capital`s largest shopping malls, and in front of the adjacent Intercontinental Hotel, where guards prevented guests from leaving for their own safety. They took Australian ambassador Ruth Pearce and several other foreigners residing in the complex as hostage. But, they were allowed to leave the building after brief captivity.
The rebel soldiers are demanding the resignation of Ms Arroyo and her Defence Minister Angelo Reyes and accuse the government of corruption. Bureau Report