MANILA (AFP) -- Gregorio Honasan, the former Philippine senator and army colonel allegedly behind two failed coup plots against President Gloria Arroyo, appeared in court for the first time Tuesday, a week after his arrest.

Honasan, popularly known as "Gringo", won a judicial order delaying the start of his trial until the lower court rules on his motion to have the case against him thrown out.

The long-haired former military rebel showed up in court amid heavy security -- using crutches after injuring his feet when he was arrested last week -- after eight months in hiding.

Honasan, 58, was indicted for the crime of coup d'etat, which is punishable by life imprisonment, for his alleged role in the July 2003 mutiny by some 300 soldiers led by a cabal of junior military officers.

He is also under investigation for allegedly being behind the February 2006 plot by several military officers to withdraw support for Arroyo, their commander-in-chief.

Thirty officers, including two senior generals, were to be court-martialed over the affair, the military said Monday.

Regional trial court judge Oscar Pimentel agreed to defer the arraignment -- which marks the start to a criminal trial -- to an unspecified date to give Honasan time to refute the charges.

Under Philippine law, state prosecutors conduct a pre-trial investigation to determine if there is sufficient evidence before filing formal charges.

The charismatic Honasan once described himself as the Philippines' "resident adviser on failed coup attempts".

In the 1970s, he was aide-de-camp to then defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile, the enforcer of former president Ferdinand Marcos's brutal martial law.

But in 1986, Honasan led a cabal of colonels, backed by Enrile, to foment popular unrest against the dictator. Marcos discovered the plot and Honasan and Enrile holed up at military headquarters and called on civilians and others for protection.

Filipinos trooped onto the streets to serve as human shields to keep Marcos' forces from crushing Honasan's men. That incident sparked the "people power" revolt that installed opposition leader Corazon Aquino as president.

Honasan, however, would later turn on Aquino, leading several bloody coup attempts. He was captured in 1987 only to escape.

In 1989, Honasan and his allies launched their deadliest coup attempt, occupying key points in the capital and even major airbases, and used captured aircraft to bomb the presidential palace.

His forces did not retreat until U.S. jet fighters buzzed the city.

Honasan was given amnesty and later won a Senate seat when Aquino stepped down and was replaced by former police general Fidel Ramos, who was also a key player in the 1986 revolt against Marcos.