Philippine police hunt down at least 12 renegade soldiers

 Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the curfew, imposed from midnight to dawn in Manila and surrounding provinces, will no longer be extended despite continuing operations to track those involved in Thursday's standoff.

 "The purpose of the curfew has already been achieved, which was to restrict the movements of the destabilisers, to prevent them from deploying last night," he said.

 Puno admitted that of the 33 identified rebel soldiers who took over the Peninsula Hotel in Manila's financial district of Makati City on Thursday, only 21 were accounted for at the end of the seven-hour standoff.

 "According to documents seized from destabilisers, there were four different teams moving around," he said. "A minimum of 12 are still missing and being hunted down."

   Puno said the missing soldiers included Army Captain Nicanor Faeldon and two security aides of Senator Antonio Trillanes. Trillanes was arrested after the standoff along with Army General Danilo Lim, former vice president Teofisto Guingona and a Catholic bishop.

 Faeldon and Trillanes are both on trial for leading a failed mutiny against Arroyo in 2003, while Lim is on trial for allegedly being involved in an aborted coup in 2006.

 The renegade soldiers were under detention, but their guards did not stop them from walking out of their court hearing on Thursday and taking over the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

 Director General Avelino Razon, Philippine National Police chief, said some of the rebel soldiers arrested after the siege had disguised themselves as civilians and were found hiding in one of the hotel's rooms.

 "We also found several documents that supported the theory that this was well planned and that other groups might continue to implement their plans," he said.

 Puno said the rebel soldiers had planned to prolong the hotel standoff until Friday in a bid to encourage various groups that have planned anti-government demonstrations to support their actions and gather at the Manila Peninsula.

 "They thought they could make it overnight because the government will not touch them because there will be many civilians, including the media, who will block any government action," he said. "That was part of their plan."

   But police stormed the hotel after the renegade soldiers ignored a deadline to surrender, firing teargas and warning shots before ramming an armoured personnel carrier through the lobby.

 The soldiers and their civilian supporters agreed to leave the hotel and were arrested. More than 40 journalists and media crew were also detained by police as part of the investigation, triggering condemnations by press freedom groups and news organisations.//dpa