Rebel Philippine captain surrenders
Failed coup leader’s lawyer says move recognises new president’s “legitimacy”.
Faeldon, a former bomb-making trainer, was first implicated in the takeover of high-rise apartments at the heart of Manila’s Makati financial district in July 2003, when 300 junior officers rigged the area with bombs and demanded the resignation of Gloria Arroyo, the then president.
They also denounced corruption within the armed forces.
Escaped
Faeldon was detained along with the other suspected coup plotters and charged with taking part in a failed power grab. He escaped from military detention in December 2005, but was captured a month later.
In November 2007, he walked out of a Makati court trial with other rebel officers and marched across the financial district before occupying the five-star Peninsula hotel. Most of his companions were captured but Faeldon escaped again.
Faeldon and his co-accused have said they did not plan to stage coups and were simply protesting against Arroyo’s policies.
Faeldon told the ABS-CBN TV network that he was ready to face the charges against him.
“I’m ready to be put in jail for as long as it takes,” he said.