Nearly 300 troops who had taken over some buildings in a posh Manila locality on Sunday morning demanding that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo step down, ended their rebellion in the evening without a shot being fired.

The rebels had taken over a shopping and an apartment complex in Makati district, a posh neighbourhood housing the city's elite, including diplomats and six Indian families.

The Indian envoy in Philippines said army and police vehicles had surrounded the area and erected roadblocks.

Though President Arroyo had ordered loyal troops to end the standoff with use of force, negotiations begun later seem to have succeeded as the rebels quietly returned to the barracks.

Late evening, President Arroyo announced on television that the government would take action against the leaders of the rebels.

Filipinos seem to have taken the incident in their stride as there was little tension outside the immediate area of disturbance.

They did not show any sign of support to the rebels who accused the government of selling arms and ammunition to Muslim and communist rebels, staging deadly bombings to justify more aid from the United States, and preparing to declare martial law to stay in power.

It might have helped that this is not the first such incident in the country.

The six Indian families are safe.

"All the six Indian families staying in Oakwood Apartments were shifted to hotels away from the area," Indian Ambassador to Philippines Navrekha Sharma told PTI over telephone from Manila.

Oakwood Apartments is a hotel apartment complex.

"The incident does not concern Indians here but we are in touch with our nationals. They always have access to the embassy," Sharma said.

There are about 45,000 Indians, a third of them illegal immigrants, in Philippines. They hail from different parts of India, but the most prominent communities are Sindhis, who are largely involved in trading and property businesses, and Punjabis, who are engaged in retail and money exchange activities.