Manila Crushes Coup Attempt; Says Only Mop-Up Operations Remain

Troops loyal to President Corazon Aquino today crushed the gravest coup attempt against her 18-month-old government after 20 hours of vicious street fighting that turned Manila into a war zone.

Two helicopter gunships and two World War II-vintage T-28 planes bombed and strafed rebel positions inside the armed forces headquarters at suburban Camp Aguinaldo, setting fire to the command building and routing hundreds of mutineers after a daylong occupation.

Defense Secretary Rafael Ileto said only “mopping-up operations” remained. “We have broken the backbone of the crisis,” he said in a radio interview, adding he was confident the operation would be over by Saturday morning.

Rebel Leader Flees

Ileto said that rebel leader Col. Gregorio (Gringo) Honasan, former chief aide to Aquino archrival Juan Ponce Enrile, had abandoned his men and that his four key commanders had surrendered.

“A handful of mutineers won’t bother us anymore,” he said.

Aquino, looking grim and angry, appeared on independent television 13 hours after the coup attempt began and said her only son, Benigno III, had been seriously wounded. She said his car was ambushed before dawn and three companions were killed and one wounded.

“I have nothing to say to these traitors,” Aquino said. “The assault is to continue until the rebellion is crushed. There will be no terms.”

As of midnight tonight, the rebels still occupied a regional headquarters just north of the capital. A rebel brigadier general also put the mayor of Cebu, the country’s third-largest city, under house arrest and closed the city’s banks and radio stations.

The whereabouts of Honasan, a dashing young officer, were unknown. Unconfirmed reports said he escaped from general headquarters on a private helicopter. There was speculation that he might try to flee to the island of Cebu to join rebel forces there.

Enrile, now a senator, missed an emergency session of the Senate and his whereabouts also were unknown. Repeated calls to his Manila residence proved fruitless.

Spokesmen for the mutineers said the rebels did not seek to oust Aquino, but Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fidel Ramos. They said Ramos was engaging in politics and had lost the trust and confidence of the rank and file in the military.

At least 42 people were killed and 136 others wounded in the coup attempt, according to hospitals, witnesses and military sources. Thirty-three people died in street fighting while another nine were killed in the battle for the armed forces general headquarters.

The coup was the fifth and gravest challenge to the 54-year-old Aquino since she took power from President Ferdinand E. Marcos in a military-backed “People Power” revolution in February, 1986.

In Honolulu, where Marcos is living in exile, he denied any involvement in the coup attempt, but said he hoped the rebels “will remember me.”

U.S. Personnel Stay Aloof

In Washington, a Pentagon official said U.S. military bases in the Philippines have been “buttoned up,” but none was placed on alert. Military personnel were warned to stay away from the fighting, he said.

The coup bid started early this morning with three bomb attacks on government buildings in suburban Quezon City. Rebels then opened fire on Aquino’s Malacanang Palace, which houses her residence and offices, and the government television station Channel 4.

The rebels also briefly took over a communications complex housing two other television stations and occupied Villamor Air Base, air force headquarters, trapping Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. Antonio Sotelo in his office for hours.