January 29
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President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino has forced a group of heavily armed rebels occupying a television station to surrender. Her troops fired tear gas into the Channel 7 building in Manila to try to flush out the group who have occupied the centre for the last two days. A few minutes later they all surrendered. Around 1,000 heavily armed troops wearing gasmasks, surrounded the building just before the attack. The rebels were warned that they had 15 seconds to surrender over a loud speaker but the army were forced to move in. Following the stand off President Aquino said: "Here was a determined attempt to disrupt the affairs of government and those of the people at large. "Here was a determined attempt to overthrow the first principle of democracy, which is civilian supremacy by those specially charged with its preservation." Earlier, the rebel leader Colonel Oscar Canlas had hinted that they would surrender and follow orders from the Armed Forces, Chief General Fidel Ramos, who had repeatedly ordered the group to give themselves up. But Colonel Canlas insisted that unspecified arrangements had to be made first and the armed forces refused. Although the rebels had control of the building, loyal officials cut off their electricity supply to prevent them from broadcasting. The take-over was part of a series of carefully orchestrated attacks on key military bases and broadcasting stations. The rebels also attacked the Villamor air force base near Manila airport in the south of the city but armed forces prevented their assault after 10 minutes of heavy fighting. Two rebels were killed and another 50 captured in the conflict. General Ramos later said that government troops are now in control of all the areas targeted by the armed group. The vote against the prime minister was much higher than expected 738 to 319 and was greeted with cheers by students who handed in a 5,000 signature petition. It means she becomes the first Oxford-educated prime minister since the war to be denied the honour. Over 1,000 academics and administrators packed into the ticket-only meeting last night. The call to bestow an honorary doctorate of civil law on Mrs Thatcher, who obtained a second-class honours degree in chemistry at Somerville college, Oxford, in 1947, provoked a two-hour debate behind closed doors. Academics are particularly concerned about government support for scientific research, which, they say, is now at crisis level. The warden of All Souls, Sir Patrick Neill, was one of Mrs Thatcher's leading supporters. He was disappointed at the decision and said: "We have never given honorary degrees in the past because we approved or disapproved of someone's policies. The principal of Mrs Thatcher's old college, also supported her nomination. Daphne Park said: "You don't stop someone becoming a fellow of an academic body because you dislike them." But Professor Peter Pulzer, of All Souls, who led the opposition, said: "This is not a radical university, it is not an ideologically motivated university. "I think we have sent a message to show our very great concern, our very great worry about the way in which educational policy and educational funding are going in this country. "I hope the prime minister and the government and the country at large will take note." Mrs Thatcher has not commented on the decision but a Downing Street spokesman said: "If they do not wish to confer the honour, the prime minister is the last person to wish to receive it." |
