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Manila: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday pardoned nine military officers convicted of leading a failed coup against her.
The nine pleaded guilty to coup charges in a civil court last month, after five years in detention. Twenty-one other officers are still on trial, while another is at large.
Army captains Milo Maestrecampo and Gerardo Gambala were sentenced to life imprisonment while seven other junior officers were given 12-year jail terms.
In 2003, the group led about 300 soldiers in seizing a luxury apartment-hotel in Manila's Makati district to urge Arroyo to resign. The coup was put down in less than 24 hours.
The influential Roman Catholic Church had warned Arroyo against granting the pardon, saying it would further encourage military adventurism.
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