Around 300 renegade troops from elite units of the army, navy and air force seized a plush shopping and apartment complex in Manila’s financial district in a 19-hour bloodless siege in July 2003.

Disgruntled officers have hatched more than a dozen coup plots in the Philippines since the overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. Some serial plotters have become celebrities.

Governments, which rely on the support of the armed forces, have traditionally treated military adventurists leniently for fear of stirring up further trouble. Some plotters in the mid-1980s were punished with 30 push-ups.

Most of the soldiers from the 2003 mutiny have already been released and have returned to the armed forces after pleading guilty.

Twenty-nine leaders of the siege, including Navy Lieutenant Antonio Trillanes, running for the senate in elections on May 14, still face rebellion charges.

Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, who served two terms in the senate and who also faces charges for his alleged involvement in the 2003 siege and an alleged plot in Feb. 2006, is running to get back into the upper house despite his detainment.

The 54 officers who entered the plea bargain on Wednesday will be discharged from the military once they complete their sentence.

Another 28 officers, including two top generals, face mutiny charges for a separate alleged coup plot against Arroyo in February 2006.

Arroyo, first propelled to power in a military-backed revolt in 2001, remains unpopular due to allegations of vote-rigging and fraud.

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