Manila (DPA) : The Philippine government has offered a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of a Marine captain and other suspects involved in a failed attempt to oust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, officials said Sunday.
Captain Nicanor Faeldon was one of dozens of renegade soldiers who took over the Peninsula Hotel in Manila’s financial district of Makati City Nov 29 in a bid to overthrow Arroyo.
The standoff ended in just seven hours, with government troops storming the hotel and arresting the rebel soldiers and their civilian supporters.
But Faeldon escaped with several other members of the group amid the confusion after the assault on the hotel. Authorities are also investigating unidentified civilians for possible involvement in the latest attempt to oust Arroyo.
Director General of Police Avelino Razon said Arroyo has approved $23,530 (one million peso) bounty for Faeldon, one of the leaders of a failed mutiny in 2003, and other suspects.
“We expect that the reward offer will encourage people in the community to provide us with information that will lead to the early arrest of people involved,” he said.
The police have already filed criminal complaints against those arrested after the hotel standoff. The suspects arrested include detained Senator Antonio Trillanes, Army General Danilo Lim, former vice-president Teofisto Guingona and Catholic bishop Julio Labayen.
Trillanes, Lim and Faeldon are already on trial for leading previous attempts to overthrow Arroyo.
Most of the suspects in last week’s hotel siege have remained in detention, but others such as Guingona and Labayen were released to the custody of politicians or other groups due to their age or health condition.
Arroyo, who left for an eight-day trip to Europe late Saturday, directed government troops and departments to keep up security while she was away.
“I direct all our government departments and agencies, especially our security and defence forces, to remain vigilant and flush out any remaining threats to national security and public safety in the country,” she said in a statement prior to her departure.