When 296 mutinous soldiers tromped out of Makati's Oakwood Premier serviced apartments last week, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo survived her greatest challenge in 19 months in office.
Or did she?
Arroyo is simultaneously playing good- and bad-cop with her disgruntled grunts. The government charged the mutineers with rebellion and they will also be court martialed. But Arroyo also released $1.8 million for new equipment for the rank and file, and appointed two special commissions to suggest solutions to the rebels' gripes. "Not all of us have been accounted for," warned Antonio Trillanes, one of the mutiny leaders, in a radio interview last week.