Trillanes to pay for hotel caper, literally - Palace exec

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV must pick up the tab for damages to The Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City during a six-hour standoff there last Thursday, a senior Palace official said. Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol said Friday this was aside from the charges lined up against Trillanes, which range from sedition to rebellion to damage to property. "The guests affected by the incident will definitely sue for damages. They should sue Trillanes. And why did he not want to come out of the hotel until the last minute? Has he paid his bill for using the conference room during the standoff?" Apostol said in Filipino on dzBB radio. Mariano Garchitoerna, public relations head The Peninsula Manila, said hotel management has yet to determine who is financially liable. "We really have not sat down to discuss that. We're still trying to assess the full extent of the damage," Garchitorena said. However, Garchitorena added that, "Although normally, kung sino ang nakasira, siya dapat ang nagbabayad. Pero kung sino talaga ang nagsira, there are two sides to that question. I can't tell. We'll let you know." (Although normally, whoever damaged something, he or she must pay for it. But as to who was responsible for the damage, there are two sides to that question.) Radio dzBB reported Friday morning that some of the guests had started returning to the hotel, but mostly to pick up their belongings and vehicles. The hotel management, which said on its website that the hotel would be closed for the moment, had brought in a consultant to assess the damage. As of Friday morning, it set up a desk at the lobby to help visitors retrieve their belongings. Apostol said the Philippine National Police (PNP), which sent an armored personnel carrier crashing into the hotel lobby, bears no responsibility because it was implementing a court order. He was referring to the arrest order issued by a Makati court against Trillanes for contempt, when he and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim walked out and proceeded to The Peninsula Manila. "The police had to ram the APC into the hotel because it was serving an arrest order. Besides, Trillanes is so used to posh hotels, I wonder where he'll strike next," he said. Trillanes and members of the mutinous Magdalo Group took over another high-end hotel, the Oakwood Premier Suites, on July 27, 2007. Apostol said Trillanes' guards can be charged separately for infidelity in the custody of prisoners. However, he said the guards may yet be "exempted" from rebellion charges after an initial review of video footages of Trillanes and Lim's march showed the "escorts" who wore military uniforms with red "Magdalo" armbands were not soldiers but civilians. As for Lim, Apostol said the military general can be charged with sedition because the latter was calling for President Arroyo's ouster when he read a statement during the press conference. However, it would be a "waste of time effort and money" to charge former vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr because he is already past 70 years old, Apostol said. The Palace adviser said Thursday's incident was planned, even as intelligence reports indicate at least three more groups were reportedly poised to strike. He did not elaborate. As government lawyers mull what charges to file against them, supporters of Trillanes and Lim are mulling counter-charges against police personnel who arrested them. Radio dzBB reported Friday morning that lawyer Argee Guevarra, one of those arrested, said they will file charges of arbitrary arrest and detention against the police. Guevarra earlier questioned their arrest, saying there was nothing wrong in holding a press conference at The Peninsula hotel in Makati City. He also claimed Infanta Bishop Emeritus Julio Labayen was "treated like a common criminal," being handcuffed and fingerprinted during his detention. - GMANews.TV