Monday, Dec. 21, 1987

The Philippines Roundup of an Elusive Renegade

By Howard G. Chua-Eoan

For three months Army Colonel Gregorio ("Gringo") Honasan, 39, had profoundly unsettled the Philippines. As the leader of a military uprising that exploded in Manila on Aug. 28, he ignited the most violent fighting to rack the capital since 1945, and nearly toppled President Corazon Aquino. Then, as the Philippine army swung to Aquino's side, Honasan and a band of followers embarked on a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. From sanctuaries around the capital, the colonel issued tirades against the government, castigating it for ineffectiveness in fighting the insurgent, Communist-led New People's Army. The military's inability -- or unwillingness -- to capture the rebel reinforced a widespread perception that the government was not in control of events.

Last week the game came to a sudden end, the result, said Brigadier General Ramon Montano of the capital's defense command, of "plain detective work." As darkness fell on Las Villas de Valle Verde, an exclusive residential park in suburban Manila, 35 soldiers raided a town house in the enclave. Battering in windows and pounding their automatic rifles against walls, the squad rounded up the elusive Honasan and three associates as some of them relaxed over a meal. Some soldiers in the raiding party saluted as their captive was led away.

Honasan was driven directly to armed forces headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo. He calmly saluted as Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos, whose loyalty to Aquino proved decisive on Aug. 28, extended a hand toward him. "We shall guarantee Honasan honorable treatment under due process of law," said Ramos. The general reported that Honasan was willing to cooperate: "He has said he will do what he can to bring ((other rebels)) in."

The colonel's capture will probably diminish, at least for the moment, the threat of government destabilization at the hands of Young Turks in the military. The dissidents, members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, which was decisive in toppling Ferdinand Marcos, are widely respected and admired for their integrity among Filipino soldiers. But it was plain last week that Honasan had failed to enlist that support effectively in his cause. After the colonel's capture, Ramos said that only twelve dissident Filipino officers and about 90 enlisted men remained on the loose.

The capture also distracted the country from a dismaying event: the apparent suicide of Jaime Ongpin, Aquino's respected former Finance Secretary. Ongpin was the first prominent businessman to support Aquino's presidential candidacy. Dismissed in Cabinet jockeying that followed Honasan's uprising, the wealthy Ongpin had since been depressed, according to associates. He was discovered with a bullet in his head and a gun in his right hand -- though his intimates were quick to point out that he is left-handed.

Honasan's detention, said President Aquino, "should reassure all peace- loving Filipinos that our country is headed for much better times." But judging the rebel will be a challenge for her. Within hours of his detention, posters went up around Manila's Roxas Boulevard demanding AMNESTY FOR GRINGO. Aquino is unlikely to honor that plea. She holds him personally responsible for the 53 people killed and the more than 300 injured on Aug. 28, one of them her only son, Benigno.

With reporting by Nelly Sindayen and William Stewart/Manila