The escaped ringleader of a failed 2003 military mutiny urged the public Monday to wage a civil disobedience campaign to force Philippine President Gloria Arroyo out of office.
Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, who escaped early this month after appearing in court, said in a statement it was time for the public "to reassert our rights."
"Pilipino believes Arroyo will stay on unless we oust her thru civil disobedience," Faeldon said, using the name of a website - pilipino.org.ph - which he operates despite being a fugitive.
He urged the public to "reclaim our pride and dignity."
Faeldon was among the junior officers who led a brief failed mutiny in 2003, when some 300 soldiers took over the Oakwood high-end apartment hotel in the Makati financial district in Manila.
The soldiers demanded reforms in the graft-ridden armed forces and accused commanders of lining their pockets while ill-equipped troops died fighting insurgencies.
The standoff lasted for less than 24 hours and ended peacefully.
In September last year the ringleaders issued a public apology to Arroyo, but the president said the government would pursue charges of rebellion against them in civil and military courts.
Faeldon escaped from the parking lot of a civilian court after a hearing on December 14, triggering rumours that another attempted coup was brewing.
A former defence secretary and military chief at the same time proclaimed himself leader of a revolutionary transition government. Fortunato Abat was subsequently arrested but is now out on bail.
Arroyo, whose popularity ratings have plummeted amid accusations she rigged the May 2004 presidential vote, has dismissed talk of coup plots and said the armed forces was fully behind her.
She survived an impeachment vote in Congress in September, but various surveys have showed that most Filipinos believe she cheated. Activists have also criticised a controversial tax reform package, saying it added to the burdens of the country's majority poor.
Faeldon described himself as joining the fight "for a credible government" and said the credibility crisis hounding Arroyo showed that the political situation had not changed two years after the mutiny.
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