CORRECTED-Philippines charges 36 for coup bid; markets unfazed
03 Dec 2007 08:45:42 GMT Source: Reuters
(Corrects reference in paragraph 4 to say Guingona's daughter, rather than wife as originally sent) MANILA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - An iconic hotel in the Philippines that was the scene of a bizarre coup attempt last week reopened on Monday as the government formally laid charges of rebellion against a senator, a former vice-president and 34 other people. Local financial markets surged on the first trading day after elite SWAT teams stormed the Manila Peninsula Hotel on Thursday to end a seven-hour standoff triggered by the coup attempt. The Department of Justice said former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Senator Antonio Trillanes and rebel soldiers had "performed...overt acts showing their common purpose, to overthrow the present government and form a new one". Fifteen people were let off, including Guingona's daughter and some civilians caught up in the drama. The group had taken over the hotel and called on the army to mutiny and overthrow the government. Rebellion is punishable by life in prison. Workers replaced marble tiles in the Peninsula lobby and plastered and repainted the walls of the plush, luxury hotel, obliterating bullet marks and other signs of the assault. No one was hurt in the operation. A glass door shattered by an aroumoured personnel carrier was boarded up and decorated with a Christmas wreath. "It's great to be back, it's like a second home," said American Ramon Linan, a Northwest Airlines flight steward on a private visit who was checking into the hotel. The stock market <.PSI> ended 1.35 percent up at 3,626.88 points while the peso <PHP=> surged to 42.32 against the dollar, up from a close of 42.75 on Thursday. "The coup was just a sort of a press conference with no real threat," said Astro del Castillo, director of the Association of Securities Analysts of the Philippines. "Today, government is in control, there is no clear and present danger. There are also things to cheer about, for example there is a possibility of another U.S. rate cut and oil prices are down." Peter Wallace, president of consultancy firm The Wallace Business Forum, said events like the botched coup were part of the rough-and-tumble politics of the Philippines but it could have some effect on direct investment. "It's certainly going to cause them to pause in their thinking," he said. "It's not the local guy, it's the head office back in America or London, where they really don't understand these kind of shenanigans. "Someone in London watching BBC News, seeing the front of what's supposed to be a very safe 5-star hotel just wiped off, is going to say, hey my board isn't going to allow this investment." (Reporting by Manny Mogato and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
