Peso closes stronger vs dollar
Shaken by the attempted military uprising in
Analysts said the market appeared to calm down following early pronouncements from Malacañang that it intends to “follow the rule of law” to resolve the stand-off led by Sen. Antonio Trillianes who also led the military mutiny in Oakwood in 2003.
The peso opened at 42.620 to the dollar and traded within a narrow range until news broke out that Trillanes had walked out of a court hearing yesterday where he was being tried of leading an attempted coup d’etat.
Leading a group of soldiers, Trillanes and Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim marched out of the
At midtrade, the peso was trading at around 42.60 but recovered slightly as the stock market actually gained 1.17 percent from its previous close, buoyed by the strength of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in
A trader said the market waited only for a few hours to gauge the public reaction to Trillanes’ call for civilian support. When no popular support was forthcoming, the trader said the market judged it to be a police matter and not a security issue.
Business leaders frowned at Trillanes’ propensity for extralegal adventures although the Makati Business Club said it was not unexpected.
“We do not support military adventurism as a means to address the problems of this administration,” said Alberto Lim, MBC executive director.
On the other hand, Donald Dee, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said his group was condemning the siege at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.
“This will only hurt the economy,” said Dee, a staunch supporter of the Arroyo administration. “We can never support any extra constitutional action. It is clear that Lim and Trillanes are just trying to save their own skin.”
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