Philippine soldiers occupy hotel

Philippine soldiers occupy hotel

news.bbc.co.uk

The Philippine army has sent more than 1,000 troops to a luxury hotel in Manila which has been taken over by dozens of armed renegade soldiers.

Many of the soldiers are accused of a failed mutiny in 2003, and had stormed out of their trial at a nearby court, taking refuge in the Peninsula Hotel.

They want fellow soldiers to withdraw support for President Gloria Arroyo.

The rebels have rejected a police deadline for them to leave, saying they would not be prepared to negotiate.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Revolutions do happen, even by those entrusted to secure their own countries defences.

These soldiers are obviously very prepared to stand up for what they believe in. They obviously are aware of the possible outcome for them.

History shows us that many usually die in the pursuit of freedom.

And to quote from Jeff Waynes musical version of 'the war of the worlds'....

"and if just one man can stand tall, there must be hope for us all, somewhere in the spirit of man.. "

I hope this brings about more of an awarenesss as to the power of the people. We should not be afraid of our governments, they should be very afraid of the citizens.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is actually ongoing now as I type and I'm watching the news on TV.

From what I can understand of what's going on, there a senator and two Generals from the Philippine marine corp involved with the soldiers inside the hotel.

They have just been attacked with tear gas by the troops outside...

Troops storm Manila siege hotel

Police and army troops in the Philippines have stormed a luxury hotel in Manila which had been taken over by dozens of armed renegade soldiers.

Troops moved in after an 0700GMT deadline for the rebels to leave the Peninsula Hotel passed.

Gunshots have been heard and tear gas has been fired into the hotel lobby.

The soldiers, accused of a failed mutiny in 2003, occupied the hotel after breaking out of court where they were on trial.

They have called on fellow soldiers to withdraw their support for President Gloria Arroyo.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Manila siege rebels 'surrender'

Military rebels barricaded in a luxury hotel in Manila have said they will surrender, following an assault on the building by Philippine troops.

Rebel leader Navy Lt Antonio Trillanes said they were ending their resistance to save the lives of civilians and journalists still inside the hotel.

This is the hotel they stormed,
manila.peninsula.com...

room prices start at $250 a night... yes, thats right $250 a night.

You only have to walk out onto the streets to see the poor of the region. Leave the main roads and you'll find mud streets with houses cramped together filled with entire families.

The line between the worlds rich and the worlds poor is so very obvious.
The corruption that has blighted this country is highly prominent.

It is true.This is a wild place ,I was there for 13 days 2 weeks ago. Very poor people, Children sleeping on the sidewalk. The people are really nice though, they are unbelievably respectful. I felt safer there than in DT Columbus for sure. The soldiers walking around as well as security guards and police are really friendly as well.
They are a fighting people for sure, from sports, to politics. It is definetly hard to imagine what is going on over there without actually being there. The people are the power, there media seems more free. There are over 12 million people in Manila alone.It is a massive city for sure, I can see how there is uprisings there. Everyone has a gun, even hotel security guys are packing 38s with 10 extra rounds on there belt. I went to markets, and the mall had a security guy with a shotgun.It is a whole different World going on over there.
There are some incredible tales from Philippines, this being the latest.



[edit on 29-11-2007 by dntwastetime]

reply to post by Extralien


*Edit* - I was going to say about it ending, but it's already been posted. Sorry, I must learn to read more.

[edit on 29-11-2007 by Xeros]

If you watch the BBC video of the surrender you will see how the media is not afraid of being around the rebel leader.They are all packed in there interviewing him.This is what I was writing about above.The people feel safe with the terrorizers, The reporters did not want to leave, even after being ordered. How different is that from our World?


[edit on 29-11-2007 by dntwastetime]

Originally posted by Extralien
You only have to walk out onto the streets to see the poor of the region. Leave the main roads and you'll find mud streets with houses cramped together filled with entire families.

Please don't ever-dramatize the situation. You have to walk quite a distance out to see the slum regions, and the roads aren't made of mud -- they are paved (poorly) with asphalt.

Not denying the rich-poor divide, though. That much is true, otherwise they wouldn't export so much of their labour to other countries in the region.

[edit on 29-11-2007 by Beachcoma]