A document recovered from the mutineers after the 22-hour siege on Sunday showed the first stage of the power grab would be to seize power through violence, after which a 15-member "national recovery council" would be set up, Golez told a congressional inquiry into the mutiny.

The council "appears to be a junta, that shall govern the country and with the chairman as head of state," he said, adding that the document showed that the rebels, led by young junior military officers, referred to themselves as the "new Filipino heroes."

"It involves the assumption of power by any means, including extra-constitutional, including force and violence," Golez said.

The council would include men and women from different sectors but the plan made no mention of how they would be selected.

"As much as possible, damage to life and property will be avoided but when it becomes necessary in the accomplishment of the mission ... the patriots will not hesitate (to cause) damage to life and property," Golez said, citing excerpts from the document.

"In their structure of government, it looks like there is no constitution, no democracy," he said.

Nearly 300 military mutineers occupied part of Manila's financial district of Makati on Sunday, demanding the resignation of President Arroyo and other officials.

The soldiers returned to barracks to face court martial some 22 hours later in exchange for government pledges to investigate their allegations of corruption in the government and military.

But Roy Cimatu, a retired general who negotiated the surrender of the rebels, said that when he was talking with the soldiers, most of them sought only minor reforms like improved benefits and even disagreed on their demands.

Government officials have warned that the threat remained against the Arroyo government and that the sponsors of the uprising and other soldiers remain at large.

Speaking before the same hearing, Interior Secretary Jose Lina directly linked a former army colonel-turned senator, Gregorio Honasan, who was involved in coup attempts in the 1980s, to the latest mutiny.

Honasan has denied any link to the plot but Lina charged that civilian volunteers identified with the senator had helped man roads in the Makati financial district that allowed the rebels to take over an upscale commercial and residential building.

Lina remarked that both the renegade soldiers and their civilian supporters had sought the implementation of the "National Recovery Program," a document previously circulated by Honasan in support of his plan to run for president next year.

"They want to bring down the government and replace it with another one that would espouse the National Recovery Program," Lina said.

Honasan "has the temerity and the cold-bloodedness to speak before the people, deying his involvement," Lina said angrily, affirming that criminal charges were being readied against the senator.

Chief justice department investigator Reynaldo Wycoco also said that state prosecutors were to file rebellion charges against 321 junior military officers and men for their involvement in the mutiny.

The charges are separate from court-martial proceedings launched against the renegade soldiers.

Wycoco also said similiar charges were being filed against Ramon Cardenas, an ex-aide to deposed president Joseph Estrada who was arrested on Monday after rebel paraphernalia was found at his home.

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