MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and 16 others accused for the Manila Peninsula Hotel takeover last November, have asked a Makati court to cancel the June 4 pre-trial of their rebellion case.

In a motion filed Friday, Trillanes, through lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr., appealed to Judge Elmo Alameda of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 to suspend the proceedings on two grounds:

• First, to give time to government and police officials to produce documents they are seeking in connection with their defense, as stated in a separate motion filed with Alameda's court; and

• Second, a pending petition for certiorari they filed with the Court of Appeals seeking the issuance of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on the continuation of the case, in which they questioned the finding of probable cause.

Trillanes, Brigadier General Danilo Lim, and the other accused, members of the Magdalo group of junior officers, have been charged for taking over the Makati City hotel on November 29 last year, during which they called for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign.