Philippines charges over mutiny

Gregorio Honasan has taken part in previous coup attempts

Police in the Philippines have filed charges against an opposition senator and six others in relation to the failed mutiny in Manila a week ago.

Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan - who is now in hiding - is the most senior official so far to be implicated in the 27 July uprising.

"Definitely, he's one of the leaders," Interior Secretary Jose Lina said of Mr Honasan.

"The soldiers were not acting by themselves," he said, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Honasan delivered a speech in the Senate last week, strongly denying any hand in the uprising, but backing the mutineers' complaints of corruption in the military and the government.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is anxious to get to the bottom of the mutiny, which saw 300 soldiers occupy a shopping complex in Manila for 20 hours, demanding that the president step down.

On Monday she said that the enquiry into the mutiny was going well, with "substantial and solid" evidence against the mutineers.

"The investigation is now in an advanced stage and will soon account for all those involved," she said.

She added that the state of emergency she declared in the wake of the mutiny might be lifted "earlier than expected".

Over the weekend, she had indicated that the emergency measures would remain in place until the country "wrapped up residual threats".

Previous coups

Mr Honasan has a history of involvement in coup attempts.

A former army colonel, he led several uprisings against President Corazon Aquino in the 1980s.

But he told a local radio station on Monday that the government was fabricating evidence to connect him with the recent mutiny.

"They are insisting on these charges to pin me down, so that they can divert attention away from the grievances of the soldiers," he said.

The mutineers accused the government of staging a series of bomb attacks in the southern Philippines, in order to blame Muslim rebels and win more military aid from the United States.

State prosecutors have already filed coup charges against more than 300 soldiers whom they say were involved in the mutiny.

They have also filed rebellion charges against Ramon Cardenas, a close associate of former President Joseph Estrada, after police said they found weapons and armbands used by the mutineers inside his house.

Mr Estrada - who is currently on trial for corruption - has himself been accused of being behind the mutiny, an allegation he has strenuously denied.