Philippine Troops in Mutiny; Fate of Government in Doubt : Aquino Safe; TV Stations, Bases Seized

About 1,000 mutinous Philippine soldiers today attacked four key military bases in Manila and President Corazon Aquino’s palace, leaving dozens dead and the fate of Aquino’s troubled, 18-month-old government unclear.

The president was unhurt in the pre-dawn attack on her palace, which was repulsed by tanks and troops loyal to Aquino and her military chief of staff, Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, who continued to maintain that he and Aquino were in control of the nation and its deeply divided military.

But the rebel troops today secured large portions of at least three military bases and at least two television stations, and heavy fighting with machine guns, cannons and tanks continued this afternoon outside Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame, the same military bases from which the military staged its successful coup against President Ferdinand E. Marcos in February, 1986.

At Least 30 Killed

Press reports said at least 30 people were killed and nearly 100 were wounded.

President Reagan late Thursday condemned the attempted coup.

In a message read by White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater from Los Angeles, the President said:

“I am profoundly concerned by reports of elements of the armed forces of the Philippines who have engaged in military action against the democratic government of President Aquino. The United States condemns this attempt at extra-constitutional action. I wish to make absolutely clear America’s unqualified support of President Aquino.”

Marcos Denies Involvement

Marcos, in interviews with reporters at his home in Hawaii, denied he is involved in the coup attempt but said he is willing to return to the Philippines to advise the rebels “or assume the legitimate presidency that I won.”

By this afternoon, the rebel soldiers, led by Col. Gregorio Honasan--the same colonel who served as point man in the 1986 coup--had taken over all but one of the nation’s television stations.

However, soldiers loyal to Aquino took back Channel 4, the government TV station, from the rebels. Twelve rebel soldiers surrendered, claiming that they had been misled by Col. Honasan into believing that they were going on official operations.

Surrounded by heavily armed rebel soldiers in fatigues, a spokesman for the mutinous troops delivered a prepared statement on one of the seized stations this morning in which he pledged that his men “will fight to the death.”

The rebels denied in their statement that they were either Marcos supporters, known here as loyalists, or right-wing fanatics.

‘Your Armed Forces’

“We are not loyalists, leftists or a rightist group,” said the unidentified rebel spokesman. “We would like to assure you that we are your armed forces, your soldiers.

In open defiance of Aquino, Ramos and his senior commanders, the rebels stated, “We have taken it upon ourselves, your servants and your soldiers, to initiate the struggle for justice, equality and freedom, which our senior officers have failed to do.

“Our political leadership has likewise failed us.”

The rebels then claimed that they were in control of Camp Aquinaldo, air force headquarters at Camp Villamor and the entire northern and central regions of the Philippines, adding, “We expect to get the country under control before the end of the day.”

The rebels claimed that Lt. Col. Eduardo Kapunan, the former intelligence officer of ousted Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who fought beside Honasan, Enrile’s chief of security, in the 1986 rebellion, was en route to Manila with “the entire cadet corps” of the Philippine Military Academy to join in the mutiny.

Calling on all soldiers and officers to join them, the rebels added: “We also ask the entire Filipino nation to join us in the quest for a new direction. The earlier we resolve this conflict, the better it will be for our country.”

Claims Coup Repulsed

The government-run news agency quoted Gen. Ramos as telling his major service commanders and troops not to believe “the propaganda being broadcast by rebel soldiers that they have taken over the armed forces.”

Ramos claimed that the rebels had only 800 renegade troops and that “their coup try has been repulsed,” the Philippine News Agency said, adding that Defense Minister Rafael Ileto and all other Cabinet secretaries remain loyal to Aquino.

Aquino issued no statements after her initial pre-dawn announcement, in which the president told the nation, “I’d like to tell our people that, first of all, I’m all right, and Gen. Ramos is on top of the situation.”

In Los Angeles, a Reagan Administration official, speaking on condition that he not be named, denied a statement by Marcos that Aquino may have taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Manila. While Aquino remained in control, the situation in Manila “was not entirely stable,” the official added.

Aquino delivered her nationally televised statement several hours after she was awakened with news of the coup attempt in her home half a block from the palace grounds.

‘We Can Resolve This

She concluded by saying: “In a few hours we can resolve this.”

But, soon after Ramos and his senior commanders asserted that the fifth coup attempt against Aquino had been repulsed, gunfire broke out at nearby military camps throughout the city, and it quickly became clear that Ramos and his troops were not in complete control of the capital.

The newly elected House of Representatives met in normal session today, but most of the members were surrounded by several personal security guards carrying Uzi submachine guns.

Enrile Out of Sight

Former Defense Minister Enrile, who made a political comeback winning a national Senate seat in May after Aquino fired him last November amid rumors that Honasan and his other military supporters were plotting a coup, did not appear in the Senate chamber today.

He was not available for comment, and it is unclear whether Enrile was supporting the mutinous soldiers.

Enrile broke with Gen. Ramos, who assisted him in the February, 1986, rebellion, after Ramos took preemptive action to block any coup attempts on the day that Enrile was fired.

Growing Unrest

Despite frequent denials from Ramos, unrest and political divisions have been growing within the government’s 155,000-member armed forces. In recent weeks, The Times has interviewed officers throughout the country--ranging in rank from lieutenants to generals--all of whom said they felt that Aquino had little or no control over the country and that her government had failed to deliver basic goods and services to the 57 million people in the Philippines.

The military overall has been highly politicized since the coup against Marcos, in which it played a lead role but ceded to civilian rule after Marcos fled to Hawaii.

Few active-duty officers interviewed, however, said they would support a coup attempt such as the one staged today.

“It will take some time before such a move can succeed,” said one general in the central Philippines who asked not to be identified by name. “The problem will be controlling the hotheads--the colonels and majors who want to move right now. Anything now can’t succeed.”

Purge of Dissidents

Ramos and his inner circle of senior commanders have made a concerted effort to purge the military of dissidents in the past 18 months. The first few coup attempts against Aquino went unpunished--part of Aquino’s stated policy of “national reconciliation.” But, in recent months, Ramos has ordered arrests and courts-martial for military men believed to be leaders of the coup plots.

Last month, the military arrested Col. Rolando Abadilla, former bodyguard of Marcos’ eldest son and chief of military intelligence in Manila under the former regime. Abadilla, who had been absent without leave since May, was charged with plotting a coup attempt last month, in which rebellious soldiers were to have seized Manila International Airport, kidnaped passengers arriving on international flights and then used the hostages as shields as they attacked Philippine air force headquarters adjacent to the airport.

The July coup attempt never materialized, and it was reported publicly by Ramos only after he said his men had neutralized it and targeted Abadilla for arrest.

Abadilla, who has been held in a military stockade under 24-hour guard since his arrest, enjoys limited support within the military. But, in an interview three weeks ago, Manila’s military commander, Gen. Alexander Aguirre, conceded that “the masterminds behind the coup plots remain at large.”

In addition, several senior officers have privately expressed anger that Aquino’s government has been treating dissident soldiers more harshly than leaders of a raging Communist insurgency, which has claimed more than 1,800 lives this year alone in a 17-year armed rebellion against the government.

The senior officers also said they believed that Aquino is unknowingly being manipulated by the Communists, who they claimed are behind the recent wave of labor unrest that has plagued the country.

Today’s coup attempt came just 24 hours after the most widespread public rebuke of Aquino’s rule since the 54-year-old housewife-turned-politician took power.

Hundreds of thousands of workers paralyzed Manila and other major Philippine cities during a general strike Wednesday in a protest of recent increases in oil and gasoline prices.

Aquino had made a nationally televised appeal in an 11th-hour effort to avert the strike late Tuesday, announcing a partial rollback of the price hikes and asking for the people’s understanding of the nation’s deep and intractable economic woes.

The far-reaching success of the strike was then seen by most Filipinos as a personal slap at the president. Wednesday’s strike call had been made by leftist labor unions, but it drew broad support from throughout the middle-class and blue-collar laborers, who have suffered the most during the economic stagnation that has continued during Aquino’s administration.

Political Leaders Wary

The strike also left many political leaders concerned about Aquino’s hold on the nation.

Political analysts speculated today that the dissident military officers who staged the coup attempt may have taken their cue from the public display of anger toward Aquino, who has fought off nearly four earlier coup attempts in the past year by relying on what she calls “people power”--the wide popularity she enjoyed during and after the overthrow of Marcos.

In each of those previous coup attempts, the leaders have alleged that they were more anti-Communist than pro-Marcos and that their moves were solely intended to push the Aquino government to the political right.