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Trillanes, Lim placed under maximum security in Crame


About 12 hours after their arrest following a six-hour standoff at a Makati City hotel, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim were brought to the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame early Friday. Radio dzBB reported that a 30-vehicle convoy that included an armored personnel carrier, two buses and mobile PNP vehicles arrived at Camp Crame shortly after 6 a.m. The vehicles in the convoy, which came from Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, were also made up of mobile units of the Metro Manila police Regional Special Action Unit (RSAU). Following their arrival at Camp Crame, they were "processed." Mug shots of them were taken. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who ordered a prosecution team to file sedition and rebellion charges against those in the standoff, said the "suspects" were to be kept in custody for inquest purposes. "There is no court today (a holiday). We have to keep them in custody for inquest purposes," Gonzalez said on dzEC radio on Friday morning. He recalled telling Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, concurrently presidential political adviser, that they will likely turn over Trillanes and Lim to the Makati court on Monday. It was Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati regional trial court-Branch 148 that ordered their arrest for contempt, after they walked out of a hearing and marched to the Peninsula hotel. The dzBB report said security was tight at Camp Bagong Diwa, with a V-150 armored vehicle manned by police Special Action Force (SAF) personnel stationed there. At Camp Crame, fully armed Special Action Force (SAF), Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Special Reaction Unit (SRU) personnel were on hand. Policemen in Camp Crame also tightened security, checking identification cards of motorists, motorcycle riders, passersby and media practitioners during a curfew from midnight Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. Guingona, wearing the black jacket he wore at Thursday's incident, was the first to alight from the bus and escorted to the PNP Custodial Center under heavy guard. Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for Metro Manila, escorted Guingona inside as heavily armed police personnel lined the path to the custodial center. News teams were kept at a distance to prevent them from getting statements from the people arrested from the Peninsula Manila hotel standoff. Lim, wearing the military uniform he wore at Thursday's incident, was the second to alight from the bus. Lawyer Argee Guevarra and Bibeth Orteza also alighted from the bus and were detained as well. Other personalities arrested included former University of the Philippines president Francisco Nemenzo, "running" priest Robert Reyes, and columnist Herman Tiu Laurel. Trillanes and Lim, along with other personalities, were placed in the camp's maximum security facility. Trillanes is considered to be under the custody of the military and is expected to be turned over to the Armed Forces of the Philippines following his "investigation" at the PNP. For its part, the PNP-CIDG said it is still gathering evidence against Trillanes and company. Radio dzBB reported that Dolina said CIDG and scene-of-the-crime operations (SOCO) personnel are still at The Peninsula Manila hotel gathering evidence. - GMANews.TV

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