Maceda arraigned today

Former Ambassador to the US Ernesto Maceda is set to be arraigned today before a Quezon City regional trial court on charges that he conspired to commit rebellion.

Maceda was arrested without warrant, along with Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, three police officers and about 100 civilians, in connection with the failed rebellion on May 1.

Maceda and Enrile contested their warrantless arrest before the Supreme Court, which more than allowed Enrile to post bail of P100,000 while Maceda was granted bail of P60,000 bail.

Enrile was supposed to have been arraigned May 10 before another QC court but he asked the tribunal to quash the charges against him for lack of evidence. His arraignment was reset to June 14.

The government also accused Sen. Gregorio Honasan and former national police chief Panfilo Lacson of rebellion but the two went into hiding before they could be arrested.

However, they emerged a few days later after the government assured them that they would be allowed to continue their senatorial campaign pending their arraignment.

The government also charged Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago with involvement in the rebellion but lawyers said they could not find sufficient evidence to file charges against her.

Aside from the political figures, authorities also arrested Chief Superintendent Victor Batac, Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso and civilian urban poor leader Cesar Tanega in connection with the rebellion.

More than 100 loyalists of jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada who were earlier charged with rebellion have also been released to the custody of Pampanga Gov. Lito Lapid and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) pending their trials.

The rebellion charges stemmed from intelligence reports that showed that the accused organized Estrada loyalists to rally at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City shortly after the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Estrada on corruption charges.

The government claimed that the rally organizers incited the crowd to surround Malacañang Palace and force President Arroyo to resign, paving the way for the re-installation of Estrada.

Some 30,000 Estrada loyalists, in fact, marched to Malacañang before dawn of May 1 and later stormed the Palace gates but military and police defenders were able to push the mob back.

The military and police succeeded in dispersing the mob later in the day but not before the loyalists, apparently influenced by drugs and liquor, staged a destructive rampage in Manila’s San Miguel, Sampaloc and Sta. Cruz districts.

But, according to the government, the rally organizers did not actually plan to re-install Estrada but planned to kill him and Mrs. Arroyo and set-up a civilian-military junta to be headed by Enrile.

The government blocked the alleged plot when Mrs. Arroyo declared a "state of rebellion" and ordered the arrest of the supposed leaders of the plot.