President Gloria Arroyo has given the 200 mutineers until 5:00 pmSunday to surrender or face attack.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon told reporters the deadline should be extended.

"I worry for what can happen for the country, so I am saying that maybe we should ask for the extension of the deadline until such time that it is very clear that a dialogue is done," he said.

At least 10 of the rebels later gave themselves up.

Rebel spokesman Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes declined to respond to Arroyo's ultimatum but said his forces would hold a press conference around 3:00 pm (0700 GMT) Sunday.

"I assure you there will be no bloodshed as long as they won't attack us. The moment they attempt, we will have to defend ourselves," he said on ABS-CBN television.

The mutineers took over the Ayala Center in the Makati district in the early hours of Sunday after being accused by Arroyo of trying to stage a coup. They have since rigged the area with explosives and positioned snipers on rooftops.

Biazon volunteered to help resolve the crisis and was the only negotiator seen entering and leaving the premises.

He is a retired Marine general and armed forces chief of staff who fought the bloodiest of seven coup attempts against the Corazon Arroyo presidency in the late 1980s.

Several other senior military officers are also believed to be coaxing the rebel soldiers to give up. The mutineers have allowed about 300 residents and hotel guests, many of them foreigners, to leave the premises.

The rebels have asked Arroyo and her cabinet to step down and accused the administration of breeding corruption and sponsoring terrorism, charges the government has denied.

WAR.WIRE