AP Features, April 20th, 2007
A former senator arrested on charges of leading a short-lived mutiny in 2003 walked out of jail Friday after a Philippine court granted him bail.
A lawyer of Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, a former army colonel notorious for involvement in several coup attempts in the late 1980s, earlier posted the 200,000 peso (US$4,193; euro3,082.86) bail set by Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Oscar Pimentel.
The judge also set a May 17 arraignment for Honasan, who is running as an independent senatorial candidate in the May 14 elections and was campaigning from prison.
He has been advocating far-reaching military and social reforms, but some critics see him as a political adventurer.
The former senator also is charged with rebellion for his alleged involvement in a foiled coup plot in February 2006, but the Supreme Court has stopped the justice department from prosecuting the case.
A smiling Honasan left his detention center in a police training camp outside Manila late Friday with family members and supporters after undergoing a medical check-up.
Honasan told reporters he was looking forward to a full-scale campaign, then waved to supporters as he boarded a car.
He was a key leader in an attempt to oust late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. That uprising failed but sparked massive protests that led to Marcos' fall.
Honasan also turned against Marcos' successor, Corazon Aquino, staging coup attempts against her before he was given amnesty and won a Senate seat in 1995 and again in 2001.
He has been indicted for the crime of coup d' etat for allegedly leading the 2003 mutiny, when about 300 junior officers briefly occupied a ritzy apartment-hotel and mall complex in Makati, Manila's financial district. They surrendered peacefully hours later.
Honasan has denied leading the mutineers, a crime which is punishable by 40 years imprisonment.
