This attempt involved upwards of 3,000 troops, including elite Scout Rangers and marines, in a coordinated series of attacks on Camp Crame and Camp Aquinaldo, Fort Bonifacio, Cavite Naval Base, Villamor Air Base, and on Malacañang Palace itself, which was dive-bombed by vintage T-28 aircraft.

Although Aquino was not hurt in this raid, the situation appeared desperate, military commanders around the country waited to see which side would triumph in Manila.

120 marines, part of an 800-strong U.S. contingent stationed at Subic Naval Base, were deployed at the grounds of the U.S. Embassy as a defensive measure.

American help was crucial to the Aquino cause, clearing the skies of rebel aircraft and allowing loyalists to consolidate their forces.

[5] The government claimed the coup was crushed, but fierce fighting continued through the weekend, with Camp Aguinaldo set ablaze by the rebel howitzers.

[7] Then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell recalled Aquino calling the White House and asking for the USAF to bomb a nearby air base to prevent the aircraft from attacking Malacañang Palace.

[citation needed] CIA documents suggested that Aquino asked for assistance for air strikes against RAM positions, but Washington declined since it was a "political risk".

[citation needed] Most damaging of all, when the last rebels finally surrendered, they did so in a triumphant televised parade and with a promise from the government that they would be treated "humanely, justly, and fairly.

[13][14] In response, the Davide Commission recommended several short-term and long-term countermeasures, including the establishment of a civilian national police force, a crackdown on corruption in the military, a performance review of appointive government officials, reforms in the process of military promotions, a review of election laws in time for the 1992 presidential elections, and a definitive statement on the part of Aquino on whether she intended to run for re-election in 1992.

The Hotel Delfino siege happened on March 4, when Cagayan governor Rodolfo Aguinaldo, who was suspended and indicted for supporting the 1989 coup, directed his private army estimated at 300 men[17] to seize the provincial capital of Tuguegarao.

Gen. Oscar Florendo, armed forces chief of Civil Military Relations, was dispatched by President Aquino to serve Aguinaldo with an arrest warrant.

[19] At least a dozen others were killed in or around the hotel; scores of civilian supporters of Aguinaldo were arrested; and a truck with assault rifles, mortars, and crates of ammunition was captured.