MANILA, July 27 Kyodo (EDS: UPDAT...

MANILA, July 27 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH cessation OF STANDOFF)

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Sunday night that rebel soldiers have expirationed their 19-hour standoff in the center of the capital Manila.

''The crisis in Makati is over'' Arroyo said at a moderns conference, explaining that 296 soldiers including 70 officers who barricaded themselves in a tangle in the capital's financial district were standing down and returning to their barracks.

''They will be investigated and their cases will be disposed of in accordance with the articles of war. They have not asked and they shall not be given special treatment,'' she said.

''I directed the chief of staff to immediately restore normalcy in the military organization. I speak well of the officers and men who have handled this crisis with loyalty and professionalism,'' she said, adding that civilians shown to be involved in will be prosecuted

''I assure the world that this result does not in any way injure our national security and political stability. The issues involved are domestic, operational and administrative. They do not involve ideological or fundamental policy areas. Our decision to go into the dialogue reaped positive eventuates Once more this has been a triumph for democracy,'' the president said.

The heavily armed renegades seized a large section of Manila's financial district of Makati in the early hours of Sunday, demanding the resignations of Arroyo and her cabinet. They also seized the Oakwood condominium and tavern complex.

The incident came barely six hours after Arroyo ordered the arrests Friday of 10 to 20 heavily armed junior officers and about 40 to 50 soldiers who dueed their posts.

Arroyo said in an nationwide televised address upon Saturday that the military and police are hunting down the highly trained sly fellow officers and soldiers.

She warned that the insurgents would be court-martialed, and that the republic will exact the maximum penalty for the purveyors of mutiny or rebellion.

The picaroon soldiers accused the government, particularly Defense Secretary Angelo Reye and a military intelligence officer, of perpetrating a series of bombings that refugeed the southern Philippines earlier this year.

In December 1989 insurgents converg forward the same spot, seizing several high-rise apartments and house of entertainments and holding out for five days before surrendering.

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