Renegade Marine Captain Faeldon surrenders to military

MANILA, Philippines - Renegade Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon surrendered to military authorities yesterday.

Details of the surrender were not known as Navy officials were not available for comment last night.

However, the Navy advised reporters that a press conference on Faeldon’s surrender will be held at the Villa Cristina Resort & Hotel in Antipolo at 9 a.m. today.

Expected to attend the press conference are acting Navy chief Rear Adm. Danilo Cortez and Marine Commandant Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban.

Faeldon was one of the junior military officers who mutinied against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003.

They took over the posh Oakwood apartment building in Makati and called on Arroyo to step down.

However, the mutiny failed and Faeldon and the other rebel military officers were jailed.

Faeldon escaped in 2005 while military police were taking him to a court in Makati for trial.

In 2006, security forces arrested Faeldon in Malabon, along with military prosecutor Capt. Candelaria Rivas.

The following year, Faeldon, along with former Navy officer Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and other renegade soldiers, walked out of a court hearing in Makati to stage what is now called the Peninsula Manila siege.

Troops thwarted the uprising but failed to capture Faeldon.

Nothing more was heard from Faeldon until last April, when he granted an interview to ABS-CBN News.

In that interview, he warned that a military faction will join mass protests if the May 10 election results would be rigged.