Rebel officer facing coup raps files bid for Senate

Escorted by supporters wearing red "Magdalo" arm bands, Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday filed his certificate of candidacy for senator at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Manila.

Poll officials formally accepted Trillanes as candidate number 26, with his political party to be identified at another time.

Trillanes, however, confirmed that there are "ongoing talks" for him to join the United Opposition (UNO) led by deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Interviewed over dzBB radio, Trillanes was upbeat about his chances to secure a Senate seat even though he remains under military custody at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.

"I have many supporters, we will launch a proxy campaign all over the country," Trillanes said in Filipino during an interview on dzBB radio.

Asked about his capability to campaign while behind bars, he said that, "we will maximize technology – TV, radio, print, text (SMS) and the Internet."

Trillanes and his fellow Magdalo members have been charged with coup d' etat for launching the short-live Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003. The Magdalo protested corruption in the Armed Forces and the bureaucracy.

Trillanes said his senatorial bid will most likely gain support from his colleagues in uniform.

"I am confident that they will support me and my cause. They know that we are fighting for the same things they are fighting for," he said.

As early as 8:30 a.m., many relatives and supporters of Trillanes gathered near the Comelec, wearing red armbands with the "Magdalo" insignia.

"Kaakbay ng Magdalo, Kaakbay ni Trillanes Para sa Bansa (Comrades of Magdalos, Comrades of Trillanes, For the Country)," read the armbands, which are reminiscent of those worn by Trillanes and fellow junior officers when they staged a short-lived mutiny in Makati City in July 2003.

The Makati regional trial court allowed Trillanes to file his certificate of candidacy with the Comelec Tuesday morning from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

Herman Tiu Laurel, a supporter of the opposition, said Trillanes had left his detention cell in Fort Bonifacio at 8:30 a.m.

Laurel, representing Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) and UNO, said Trillanes will run as an independent candidate but said he was lobbying that the rebel soldier be part of the political minority's senatorial slate.

PMP served as Estrada's political party for the 1998 presidential race before merging with other groups under the UNO umbrella.

Laurel said Estrada already gave his consent to include Trillanes in the 12-man UNO lineup, but the deposed leader admitted that it was no longer his decision alone to identify the last four candidates who would make the cut.

Meanwhile, the Trillanes camp said it would launch a Friendster account and maximize the Sundalo Tagapagtanggol ng Pilipino website to reach out to more people in cyberspace. - with reports from Fidel Jimenez and Joan Dairo, GMANews.TV