Aquino Allies, Foes in Confrontation at Consulate

As a military coup attempt unfolded in their homeland 7,000 miles away, supporters of the rebellious soldiers engaged in a shouting match Thursday night with supporters of President Corazon Aquino at the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles.

About 30 members of the Filipino-American Movement for a Better Philippines held a candlelight vigil outside the consulate on Wilshire Boulevard to express sympathy with the coup led by officers linked to renegade Lt. Col. Gregorio Honasan.

“We are calling for Mrs. Aquino to step down immediately,” said Milo Castelo, 45, a Los Angeles attorney. He said the Aquino government is “inept and incompetent” and guilty of “rampant corruption.”

Castelo and a handful of the protesters then entered the office building and took the elevator to the 12th-floor consulate, where a coalition of four Filipino groups in Los Angeles that support the Aquino government had just completed a press conference.

Half a dozen television news crews watched as the anti-government protesters confronted the acting consul general for the Philippines in Los Angeles, Willy C. Gaa.

“We are in sympathy with the coup in the Philippines!” announced Eli Swing, 49, a Los Angeles real estate agent.

The consul general remained silent, glaring at the protesters.

But Danny Lamila, a representative of the Philippines Liberal Party, loudly defended the government.

“These people staging the coup are criminals,” Lamila yelled. “They are fugitives from justice!”

After a few minutes, the 20 Aquino supporters in the room began chanting “Cory! Cory!” The anti-government protesters then left the consular offices and order was restored.

Greg Santillas of the Campaign for Democracy and Independence said he believes that most of the estimated 350,000 Filipinos living in Los Angeles County oppose the military coup.

“We’re here not only to support the president, but also the democratic institutions,” he said. “The military is a dangerous leftover from the dictatorship (of Ferdinand Marcos). We don’t want the government to be a hostage to the military.”

Also present at the press conference was Andrea Aquino, 50, the niece of assassinated Marcos opponent Benigno Aquino, Cory Aquino’s husband.

“I support democracy and the government against the coup,” she said. “I think it’s about time these renegades are punished.”