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The rebels kept up the assault for more than an hour before pulling back into the commercial district surrounding the palace. Some of the defenders took up pursuit, and sporadic gunfire continued for hours. By nightfall Friday, the government estimated that at least 20 people had died, including a photographer and a reporter, but there was widespread speculation that the toll was much higher. As many as 265 people were wounded. The President was unharmed, and the rebels reportedly never got close to her house, but her only son Benigno ("Noynoy"), 27, was seriously wounded. Caught in his car with four bodyguards during the shooting, the young Aquino was saved from death by a companion who threw himself across Noynoy's body. Three of the four guards were killed. Aquino was hit in the shoulder and neck, but is expected to survive.
At 4:30 a.m. the President telephoned DRZH, a private Manila radio station, to deliver a live broadcast to the nation. Sounding somewhat shaken, she said, "I want to tell you, all my countrymen, I am safe and the presidential security group is here and prepared. It's all right here, but it's a little noisy. Since it's still dark, I would advise ((people)) to stay put." General Fidel Ramos, Chief of the Armed Forces and a loyal backer of Aquino, also went on the air. Reassuring listeners that the situation would soon be under control, he said, "I support President Aquino and her government, and so does the rest of the armed forces of the Philippines."
By dawn the issue was far from decided. Mutinous units took hold of regional commands in several areas outside the capital, including Cebu, the country's second largest metropolitan area. In the Manila suburb of Quezon City, a fierce fire fight raged around the government communications center, home of television Channel 4. Rebels also managed to seize part of Villamor Air Base, adjoining Manila International Airport, trapping General Antonio Sotelo, the air force commander, in his office. A contingent of 300 men talked their way into Manila's Camp Aguinaldo, headquarters of the national defense forces and the general staff. Only late on Friday did progovernment forces succeed in routing the rebels.
A principal figure behind the plot was Colonel Gregorio ("Gringo") Honasan, 39, a heavily decorated officer associated with at least one previous coup attempt. He apparently organized the scheme from his post at Fort Magsaysay, 70 miles north of Manila. As Honasan led his followers into Camp Aguinaldo, he told reporters that the operation "was not a coup" but was aimed at "unification of the people, the concept of justice and true freedom." Expressing a sentiment common in the military these days, he added, "We've been blamed and ignored so much. It's time to hear the voice of your soldiers."
Honasan is a founder of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), a group of officers intent on rebuilding the army's image and capability, and was security chief for Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, 63, during much of Enrile's 15 years at the head of the Philippines' defense establishment. Aquino fired Enrile last November for allegedly conspiring to overthrow her. Late last week, after briefly dropping from sight, Enrile resurfaced in Manila and declared, "I had nothing to do with it."