Word: honasan
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Lieut. Colonel Gregorio ("Gringo") Honasan is a master at manipulating military frustration. Last August thousands of underpaid soldiers joined him in an uprising that nearly toppled Philippine President Corazon Aquino. Last week Honasan apparently took advantage of unrest in the armed forces again. With the help of a reserve lieutenant said to be angry because he had not received a regular commission, Honasan escaped from a navy ship on Manila Bay, where he had been detained since his capture last December. Escaping with him on two rubber rafts were 13 of his guards. It took the government four months...
...Honasan was driven directly to armed forces headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo. He calmly saluted as Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos, whose loyalty to Aquino proved decisive on Aug. 28, extended a hand toward him. "We shall guarantee Honasan honorable treatment under due process of law," said Ramos. The general reported that Honasan was willing to cooperate: "He has said he will do what he can to bring ((other rebels...
...threat of government destabilization at the hands of Young Turks in the military. The dissidents, members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, which was decisive in toppling Ferdinand Marcos, are widely respected and admired for their integrity among Filipino soldiers. But it was plain last week that Honasan had failed to enlist that support effectively in his cause. After the colonel's capture, Ramos said that only twelve dissident Filipino officers and about 90 enlisted men remained on the loose...
...capture also distracted the country from a dismaying event: the apparent suicide of Jaime Ongpin, Aquino's respected former Finance Secretary. Ongpin was the first prominent businessman to support Aquino's presidential candidacy. Dismissed in Cabinet jockeying that followed Honasan's uprising, the wealthy Ongpin had since been depressed, according to associates. He was discovered with a bullet in his head and a gun in his right hand -- though his intimates were quick to point out that he is left-handed...
...Honasan's detention, said President Aquino, "should reassure all peace- loving Filipinos that our country is headed for much better times." But judging the rebel will be a challenge for her. Within hours of his detention, posters went up around Manila's Roxas Boulevard demanding AMNESTY FOR GRINGO. Aquino is unlikely to honor that plea. She holds him personally responsible for the 53 people killed and the more than 300 injured on Aug. 28, one of them her only son, Benigno...