Hay, na-coup! (Politics in the Philippines, ladies and gentlemen)

[afuna]

There was a coup attempt earlier today, led by a Senator who was already in prison for his involvement in an earlier coup attempt (the Oakwood Mutiny).

At the time of the Oakwood Mutiny, Trillanes was a lieutenant of the Philippine Navy. During the latest Senatorial elections, he won a seat in the Senate, probably because of his involvement in said mutiny, but was not allowed to take part because he was in prison. So Senator Trillanes was at a court hearing earlier today and just walked out. He headed to the Manila Peninsula, joined by some other civilians, and started calling for Pres. Gloria to step down.

The whole thing began before noon, and ended by 4:30PM. The first I heard of it was around 2PM, when someone mentioned that they'd blocked off Ayala and were sending in four gigantic tanks. (I was safe in Ortigas, by the way, very far from the center of action.)

I've heard that the soldiers crashed through the Peninsula's front doors, and I have the impression that they used the tank to do so, but I'm not sure whether I have the facts right. As far as I know, no one was seriously injured, though shots were fired.

After Trillanes surrendered, the police started arresting all the journalists who were in the hotel because they hadn't come out when told to do so. They'll probably be all right and hopefully will be released tomorrow morning after being processed. Apparently, the government wants to make sure that they were sent by their respective stations and didn't just go there of their own volition -- that is, to lend assistance to Trillanes (or at least that's how I'm reading tone of the radio interview that I heard on the way home).

There's also a curfew for tonight (maybe also tomorrow night) from midnight to 5AM. It's not Martial Law, but this plus the arrest of the journalists plus the sadly incompetent way the Trillanes walkout was handled will keep the media busy for the next few days.

Will find out how these events have affected the markets on Monday. The long weekend is a blessing; it will give matters time to settle down, and hopefully we won't be hit as we would have been if the markets were open on Friday.

Three typhoons, two earthquakes, and now an attempted coup. It's been a rough week for my country.

ETA:
Wiki entry: Manila Peninsula Mutiny

Comments

[aveleh]

::hugs::

[afuna]

*snugs*

(Oddly enough, I wasn't worried during the coup; I'm more worried about the after-effects of the coup)

[aveleh]

*snugs*

(*nods*)

I just spent way too long trying to figure out why you weren't online to entertain me. *Looks up* Ahh, long weekend!

*hugs*

[prissi.livejournal.com]

oh dear.

I went wikipedia reading... *hugs*

[afuna]

*hugs back*

I wonder whether the latest mutiny has made it in yet...

[pauamma]

I'm curious: what is the meaning of the na- prefix?

[habeo.livejournal.com]

Pardon me if I'll take this question. :D

It's a play on the Filipino phrase "Hay, naku!" (where the "Hay" part rhymes with sigh, and "naku" as afuna played the words), which is an expression of frustration, similar to the sentiment of a "Damn it!", but with a sense of loss and/or disappointment mixed in. Disappointment in this case.

[pauamma]

Yay puns! :-)

[afuna]

There's also the "na-" prefix in its normal usage as past-passive (what is the term for that?), but I know it's inaccurate because the coup attempt didn't actually succeed.

[iruka11.livejournal.com]

wait.. 2 earthquakes?! O_o

*sigh* i hate the week of my birthday...

[afuna]

*hugs*

I think we didn't feel the other earthquake here in Manila.

And that is a *lot*. However! If you think about it, the earthquakes and typhoons didn't cause any major damage (...I think?) and no one was seriously injured in the coup (again, I think!).

Well no one, except the Philippines' reputation again but agggh.

[iruka11.livejournal.com]

oooh.. ok... good... ayoko na ng earthquake... i still blame it for my constant dizzyness...

well back in 2004, it was bad... same week as my birthday ~_~ jeez... just when i became legal, and now, fully legal...

haaay.. see you later ;)

[afuna]

See you! Happy birthday dear ,3

[ivles.livejournal.com]

I've seen many news about coup in the Philippines in the past. And it made me worried, glad everything is (sort of) okay now.

[afuna]

*hugs* Things have settled down quite admirably. (I think that statement has just a bit of cynicism in it.)

*chuckles*

[yen420.livejournal.com]

Aren't you glad you live in the Philippines? We have soo many ongoing drama going on, on and off screen. Whoa... two earthquakes? Where was I on the other one? *thinks* One good thing about typhoons though, cold weather. *winks*

Re: *chuckles*

[afuna]

Hahaha. I guess any other country would be boring. There are so many things that I'm used to and I don't even consider panic-worthy, and I only realize that i should be worried when one of my friends from another country comments with concern *g*

[cindyg.livejournal.com]

Not that it makes much difference, but...what they sent through the front door was an Armored Personnel Carrier, or APC. A tank runs on its own tracks - and is much bigger, not to mention having that huge-ass gun up front.

Geez, but it was all sorts of interesting in the house, me and my husband nitpicking the coverage to death.

^__^

[afuna]

Oh! Thank you. I was wondering about that. I understand it more clearly now, with that clarification (also after having seen the video ;-))

I was in the office so I wasn't able to keep an eye on things as they were happening, but I was able to find some youtube vids of the relevant events afterwards.