Aguinaldo joined attempts by the RAM to overthrow President Aquino, starting in the coup attempt on August 28, 1987 that saw him briefly seize control of the Cagayan Valley regional military headquarters in Tuguegarao, bluntly stating later that another coup attempt would follow if the President "does not make reforms fast". Aguinaldo was stripped of his command and placed under investigation but resigned with the rank of lieutenant colonel before any significant action could be taken against him. He then ran for Governor of Cagayan in the 1988 local elections, successfully winning on a populist platform against more established rivals who were ironically supported by RAM's political patron Juan Ponce Enrile, by a landslide. During this time, he was accused of becoming a provincial warlord who built an independent economic base from logging, smuggling and gambling and used their revenues as well as defense funds and weapons caches to establish a private army of twelve hundred Negrito tribesmen and surrendered NPA guerrillas. Events On December 1, 1989, RAM under Col. Honasan launched its second attempt to overthrow the Aquino government. Governor Aguinaldo went on the air over DZRH in the morning, declaring support for the coup. Five hundred of his men attempted to reach Manila but were blocked in Nueva Ecija. After the coup failed, Aguinaldo was suspended as governor in January 1990 based on his radio announcement. A week before his attack on the hotel Aguinaldo was indicted on charges of rebellion and murder relating to the failed coup. Disputing both his suspension as Cagayan governor and the rebellion charges, Aguinaldo refused to surrender to authorities. Along with hundreds of loyal armed followers, he went into hiding in his adopted hometown of Gattaran while civilian supporters tried to prevent his arrest by forming human barricades at the provincial capitol. On learning government troops were planning to attack his hideout, Aguinaldo proceeded with his troops in a convoy toward Tuguegarao on March 4. Brigadier General Oscar Florendo, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of Civil Military Relations, and Interior Secretary Luis Santos were dispatched to Tuguegarao by President Aquino to serve Aguinaldo with an arrest warrant, but were caught off-guard by the speedy arrival of Aguinaldo's forces. After Aguinaldo's men seized control of Hotel Delfino where the general was staying, Florendo was taken hostage along with more than 50 other hotel guests while Santos managed to escape. Aguinaldo was initially