A private army estimated at 300 men[6] seized the hotel under the command of suspended Cagayan governor Rodolfo "Agi" Aguinaldo, a fierce critic of the administration of President Corazon Aquino and the Communist rebellion in the Philippines.

Among those who positively identified him were Etta Rosales, who later became one of his colleagues in the 11th Congress of the Philippines and Chair of the Commission on Human Rights, and Satur Ocampo,[8] future representative of Bayan Muna Partylist.

[10] In the early 1980s, Aguinaldo joined the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), a dissident faction within the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that was founded by alumni of the Philippine Military Academy such as Colonel Gringo Honasan, Eduardo Kapunan and Victor Batac, citing disillusionment with the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos for its handling of the communist rebellion.

He then ran for Governor of Cagayan in the 1988 local elections, successfully winning on a populist platform against established rivals who were ironically supported by RAM's political patron Juan Ponce Enrile, by a landslide.

Along with hundreds of armed followers, he went into hiding in the village of Dakel[16] in his adopted hometown of Gattaran while civilian supporters tried to prevent his arrest by forming human barricades at the provincial capitol.

[18] The convoy was composed of at least 100 civilians and about 300 armed Aetas, disgruntled Scout Rangers, and paramilitary units and included truckloads of ammunition and an armored personnel carrier.

[16] After Aguinaldo's men, led by defecting Scout Ranger captain Feliciano Sabite,[17] seized control of Hotel Delfino where the general was staying and cut off water and electricity supplies, Florendo and two of his aides were taken hostage along with more than 50 other hotel guests[20] while Santos, two army colonels and a navy commodore barricaded themselves on the second floor[18] before being rescued along with two mayors.

[21] Aguinaldo was initially receptive, holding a press conference with Florendo in the hotel lobby despite claiming to have been wounded in an ambush by government forces outside Tuguegarao that killed one person.

[18] However, gunfire erupted a few hours later at the nearby Balzain Bridge, sparking heavy fighting across the town that culminated with government troops dispersing civilian demonstrators outside the hotel with teargas before storming the building at 03:00 pm.

[21] Florendo's body was returned to Manila after the incident and was buried with full military honors at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on March 10.

In 1993, Aguinaldo availed of an amnesty offered by the government of President Fidel Ramos to RAM members and other coup participants[25] and stayed on as Governor until 1998, when he was elected as representative of Cagayan's 3rd congressional district, serving until his assassination on June 12, 2001, by NPA hitmen in Tuguegarao, shortly after losing his reelection bid during the previous month to Manuel Mamba.