Three days before the next hearing of the special general court martial formed to try them for their alleged withdrawal of support from the bogus president that is Gloria Arroyo in February 2006, Marine Col. Ariel Querubin went to the Supreme Court to stop the court martial proceedings of what they describe as kangaroo court.
Here’s Inquirer’s report by Tetch Torres:
Jailed Marine Colonel Ariel Querubin has asked the Supreme Court to stop his court-martial for attempted mutiny, saying the Court of Appeals abused its discretion and committed serious errors when it dismissed his plea to prevent the military from hearing his case.
In his petition for review, Querubin also asked the high court to nullify the charges of mutiny and other offenses against him and 29 other Scout Ranger and Marine Officers.
“The Court of Appeals, with due respect, sorely missed the point when petitioner argued that respondent Esperon was his chief accuser and principal witness of the charges he himself had filed against petitioner,” said Querubin, referring to Military Chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
As chief of staff, Esperon approved the filing of charges against the suspected coup plotters, and even reversed a pre-trial investigation’s recommendation to drop the mutiny charge against them.
In his petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Court of Appeals, Querubin said Esperon had “pre-judged” the case and that there was no such thing as a special general court martial, which Esperon created to try Querubin and the other junior officers.
The appellate court rejected Querubin’s allegations, saying he “cannot indulge in unjustified assumptions” and stressed that constituting a general court martial was within Esperon’s power.
But Querubin, currently detained at the Fort San Felipe Detention Center, Naval Base Compound, Sangley Point, Cavite, believed he also has constitutional rights.
“Being a soldier does not remove [our] rights under the constitutional provision,” Querubin said in his petition before the Supreme Court.
Querubin said that he and the 29 military officers are “persons accused within the ambit of the constitutional provisions entitled to every right of an accused which necessarily includes the right to question respondents’ acts done without jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction.”
At the same time, he said their continued detention was illegal because the investigating panel recommended the dropping of the mutiny charges against them.
Querubin and Army Brigadier General Danilo Lim, supposedly with the knowledge of former Marine commandant Major General Renato Miranda, allegedly planned to lead a mass withdrawal of support from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on February 24, 2006, the 20th anniversary of the first People Power uprising. With a report from Joel Guinto, INQUIRER.net
Basically the continuing incarceration of these officers, more than a year to date, by the military are a gross violation of their human rights! Even military law states so! End of story!
(PS, Of course, I’m speaking of military law in countries where the rule of law exists.)
It will be good for members of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations to observe these cases of these soldiers now in jail regardless of whether or not their detention is lawful. They will learn a lot to propose measures to prevent similar abuses the Japanese military is likely to commit once the Ministry of Defense is firmed up and the Japanese Constitution amended to remove that clause regarding Japanese rearmament.
I am actually against it, but it is more in fact a hard decision on whether to allow the US bases to stay or ask the Americans to leave and let the Japanese rearm and protect Japan from outside aggression sans US meddling.
As Anna has stated in another loop, all military, whether in a democracy or not, has the tendency to be fascists! Exactly the reason why there is a strong opposition toward rearming Japan, even against the creation of our Ministry of Defense by the present dispensation.
Dapat talaga matuto ang mga taong magpakatao—hindi mga diablo!
Ang ganda talagang pag-aralan ang kaso nina Col. Querubin, et. al. I’ll talk to my lawyer friends over here about these cases. Sabi nga, “Forewarned is forarmed.” We can make preventive measures against abusive military using the Philippine examples.
Anna, the Philippine military laws are patterned after the American military laws. Yes, the soldiers are only suppose to be in barracks or in a similar place. And yes, they are not supposed to be incarcerated for an indefinite period of time. It is only in the Philippines that one can be thrown in jail for no reason at all. But looking at the alternative, which may be death by excecution, these brave officers may be in a better place while the Supreme Court decides on their fate. I am confident that these supreme court justices will see what the tiyanak, the two hemorrhoids and their conniving dogs are doing to anyone who shows some independence of mind and genuine heart for the people.
Ellen, the officers are no longer in Fort San Felipe, Cavite. They are in a maximum detention cell in Tanay Rizal.
please open and read my post under “CA JUNKS PLEA OF COL QUERUBIN”
i’ll just repost it here nalang…
posted by invictus is the last page recommendation of PTA…contrary to the PTI, all officers was recommended for court martial . the statement “all charges against respondent LTC REYANALDO C OCSAN 0-8751 only will be dropped and case against him only will be deemed dropped and closed” is even underlined by the OJAGS col davila…
but sometime in dec 2006 these following officers was then released according to col baccaro then na it was the recommendation of PTA…
(marines)
1. LTC MARTIN VILLASAN
2. LTC VALENTINE HIZON
3. LTC ROMULO GUALDRAPA
4. LTC JANUARIO CARINGAL (please correct me if im wrong, not so sure if he is still inside the detention)
(ranger)
1. MAJ ORIEL PANGCOG
2. CPT GEORGE MALONES
3. 1LT JERALD REYES
4. 1LT MARIO BAUTISTA
5. 1LT MICHAEL CUARTEROS
6. 1LT ANTONIO TIMBAL
-please review sa recommendation ng PTA posted by invictus!!!
by the way, it took them almost 6 months before they released the controvertial PTIR..before it was released esperon said that he based his decision sa PTIR…when the document was then given to us, he now said na he based his decision sa PTA…and release few officers mentioned above…after 4 hearings, gen yano gave in to the demand of our lawyers to supply us a copy of the PTA…now that we have it,LUMUTANG NA ANG inconsistency of our dear CSAFP GEN HEMOGENES ESPERON, ITS VERY CLEAR NA BINABOY NYA ANG BATAS MILITAR…
and by the way i wanted to quote summary of the last hearing nung may22…one of the debate goes like this: the defense lawyers was pleading/demanding for a copy of PTA…sagot ng jago( voice of col loy) the PTA is confidential only to the chief of staff and the military lawyer, it may not be furnished….(tumawa nalang kami lahat, kasi naawa kami sa kanya eh, he was trembling kasi he knows na malalagot sya sa boss nya)…by the way PTA according to the court martial handbook should be (SHOULD not MAY BE) attached to the charge sheet… im not a lawyer peru it is very clear na me milagro na nangyayari under the pants of gen esperon ( well under it is his small balls na hawak ni GMA)..
small ball na malapit na mabogok…. i can smell our victory!!! ( not his bogok balls ha,hahahah) well the detetion in tanay is now livable in some way…ready na for gen esperon and his dogs…. dont worry gen esperon visit din namin kayo dun, and please tell your wife to clean lagi sa CR ha, nagbabara un kasi eh, and gen esperon ung gasul dun ikaw ang bibili nun pala if naubos….mura pala ang buko dun gen esperon, swerte ka nga mag harvest ka nalang sa mga gulay na pinaghirapan ng mga “HERO” dun, diligan mo nalng gen esperon para tuloy2x ang harvest mo sa gulay makatipid ka naman.. peru mukhang nag mamadali ka na makaails ng pilipinas, medyo i knw san ang destination mo, handa na yata ang hidden property mo sa australia…opppps sorry nabulgar ko, tsskkk di pa naman masyado reliable source ko, baka nga tsismis lang to eh,peru hindi malayong totoo,malay naming mga pilipino malaki ninakaw mo sa pera namin:)
A very wise move for Col. Querubin. Now is the time to act!
#Military Wife:
Am looking forward for Assperon and co. with their “queen Gloria” but of course, using the same clogged CR and shouting for Gasul pag time n’ya ng magluto ng Kapampangan faborit! Bwaaaaaaaah!
To Assperon:
Don’t worry..Australia will always be there for you…waiting…in your dreams lang kaya!
Military wife i-research lang ninyong mabuti kung sino ang dummies ni Assperon sa mga properties niya abroad. Aba eh sa 10 biliong pisong defense funding, malaki laki ang cut niya dyan. Kaya lang hati naman sila nung isang hemorrhoid. Malaki pa rin ang maiiwan sa kanya. Puwede pa siyang makabili ng property sa US. Hindi nga lang siya pwedeng bumili sa Europe at bistado na ang baho niya doon. Hindi siya uobra sa Europeans.
I can just imagine how the ass of Assperon would fit in the toilet bowls currently used by these incarcerated officers. I heard that only the fit asses can use them. Masyado ng lumaki ang ass ni Assperon sa kakakain ng caviar at kaiinom ng cognac!
Sana military wife, makamit ninyo ang hustisya sa Korte Suprema. Our prayers are with you!
Ang kikitid na nga ng mga toilet bowls nila, barado pa! Ano ba yan?
Court martial for what? For not following the order(s) of a criminal posing as president of the Philippines. Frankly, I talked to a prominent politician in Japan whom my group and I worked with from many years back regarding the stopping of trafficking of Filipino women and men to Japan disquised as entertainers and criticized why the Japanese government is entertaining the creep when she comes to Japan.
Problem she says is that Japan has no right to meddle in Philippine affairs. If the Filipinos can prove that the creep did indeed cheat in the last election to validate her position, then perhaps even she herself can propose to the Japanese Parliament (She’s a Japanese parliamentarian) to stop recognizing the present Philippine government and stop altogether all kinds of aids for Philippine development under this regime, but as long as there is not even a move to disqualify the creep for doing so that is in fact the primary function of the Comelec, sorry but we, Japanese, civilians, politicians, bureaucrats, etc., cannot say “No” especially when requested by the Philippine government via its embassy in Japan.
We can, however, have a say in stopping the ODA presently with evidences gathered by Japanese, Philippine, and international concerns regarding the extrajudicial killings criticism of which has gained a stride though slowly.
The abuses in the Philippine military should be exposed likewise so that the real soldiers can be set free to serve their country and people right. The abusers should be exposed and sent to jail with the criminal squatting at the palace by the murky river. Filipinos should not allow them to continue insulting their intelligence as a matter of fact.
I do not suppose that any military code in fact can be any different from codes, written and unwritten, set to make lives of the citizens of a country be better not miserable as all laws are supposed to be inspired of God.
PSB: Hindi nga lang siya pwedeng bumili sa Europe at bistado na ang baho niya doon. Hindi siya uobra sa Europeans.
*****
Sinabi mo pa, PSB. I remember a Philippine official serving in an important UN position in Geneva before who was exposed by a British journalist for getting big stipend from the UN for his housing that he paid for a mortgage on a property he and his wife bought there. When reprimanded, ang kapal ng mukha na nagsabing “It isn’t my property. It is my wife’s. I am just renting from her!”
A journalist friend has been bugging me for information on this official as he seems to do so in all the posts that he has been assigned to. The wife, being a foreigner, I suppose is not subject to Philippine rule, and thus, the above palusot that did not succeed then and he was sacked.
Ang tindi. Lahat makapal ang mukha apparently. Walang sense of decency. Pwe!
Military Wife,
Can you pass on to me through Ellen any petition that you may already have written so we can have a sign campaign likewise for it in Japan? Medyo vague kasi ang position namin because we don’t have the whole picture. Kung meron kayo then perhaps we may just add our own sentiments re what you have written and are fighting for.
Samasama tayo diyan so the Philippines will be free of these criminals running the country now like hell. Saan ka naman nakakita na iyong matitino ang nakakulong samantalang ang mga criminal ay pasikat pa? ONLI IN DA PILIPINS!!! Urrrrrrrrrk!
Let’s get this straight:
A Court Martial is not necessarily a bad thing provided of course that before the court martial is convened, a just, fair and honourable Board of Inquiry (which, in theory, investigates whether there is sufficient ground to convene a Court Martial) has done a proper job. A court martial often gets to the bottom of things, of course, the panel that sits as tribunal must be worthy of trust, unfortunately, I don’t believe this is the case of the AFP under Esperon today.
Or it seems to me that a PTI has already submitted a report to the effect that there are no sufficient grounds for charging these officers with the military crime of mutiny or coup d’état – these two violations that are the most serious and from which the other “lesser” violations of Articles of War could be based if ever findings showed there were grounds with which to charge the accused.
In other words, based on the military board of inquiry’s (JAGO) findings, there are no cases of mutiny! On what grounds does Esperon now wishes to pursue cases of mutiny and coup d’état (attempted or not) against these officers? His own BOI (JAGO) has rendered its findings and recommendations, summary: CHARGES HAVE NO LEG TO STAND ON; It should have been as simple as that.
To me after having read and re-read the PTIR, the only charge if ever that could stand is attempted insubordination which is clearly, a very laughable charge considering the resulting decision of their so-called commander in chief to declare SOE following that ATTEMPTED insubordination! In a normal military, there would have been an ordinary board of inquiry that would have looked into the “scuffle”, if the charged officers were proven to be guilty, they would have been relieved of their command, given a hefty fine, usually a gross deduction in pay, a blame, etc. but not nearly 18 months of incarceration!
The PTA can only be valid if the PTIR recommended for the filing of charges and with the filing of charges, a tribunal must be convened to try those charges (in theory, the convening of the Court Martial is dependent on the chief of staff to the president who can consent or not to the convening of a court martial).
But inasmuch as the PTIR investigations showed and their subsequent findings duly attested to in writing, stated that there were no sufficient grounds to warrant prosecution, what the heck is the PTA for?
Esperon is fiddling with the law, the military law, he’s buying time and using every trick at his disposal to harass these officers. In a normal country that recognizes the Constitutional Rule of Law (to which military law is subservient), Esperon wouldn’t be allowed to do that.
This is the reason why Querubin has gone to the Supreme Court. Under the conditions fabricated by Esperon, Rule of Law no longer exists in the military, hence Querubin is absolutely right to go to the Supreme Court. Not only that, he could go to the UN Human Rights Court too because clearly, there is a gross violation of his BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS.
It would do Esperon a lot of “good” if the incarcerated officers, with the helpf of outside elements, i.e., lawyers, military elements, their wives and other concerned citizens, formed their OWN BOARD OF INQUIRY to investigate Esperon’s own violations of the Articles of War.
Of course, many would say, it would be a kangaroo board of inquiry but so what? Heck, military laws have been soooo bastardized by the chief of staff of this half-kangaroo military so why not give Esperon his own doze of medicine?
I’m pretty sure the incarcerated officers’ own board of inquiry into Esperon would yield fabulous findings, enough to hang Esperon. Use the Articles of War as basis! As we say, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Tit for tat! The incarcerated officers have nothing to lose but everything to gain by forming their own board of inquiry to investigate Esperon and to make their own recommendations!
Ang alam lang ni Esperon na batas militar ay bastusan, e di bastusin na siya ng husto!
military wife,
Napilipit na pala ang utak ni Assperon sa PTIR-PTA, at huling-huli ninyo ang inconsistency at pambababoy sa batas militar ng ulol na cheat-of-stuff. Ang laking butas nito, and let’s support the recent good developments with prayers.
Anna,
Thanks very much for the enlightening posts above.
“Tit for tat! The incarcerated officers have nothing to lose but everything to gain by forming their own board of inquiry to investigate Esperon and to make their own recommendations!”
Why not?! Time to “move on” to the bastusan stage!
Naku, Chi, suwerte si Esperon dahil chief of military siya ng Bastusan Republic. Dito, tapos siya board of inquiry pa lang for abuse of officer pregoatives pa lang, wala ba iyan sa violations of Articles of War!
Sabi nga ng mga militar na kausap ko (di pipitchugin military officials sila, one of them is sitting on the UK military board of inquiry following Iran’s capture of the 15 Royal Navy sailors) after I recounted the contents of the PTIR, case closed daw kung sa kanila – end of story.
The military has better things to fiddle with than harass its own; that Esperon continues to persecute and violate the BASIC human rights of officers without any real, tangible, palpable, legal, military outcome after almost 18 months of incarceration, is very telling of the state of affairs in the Bastusan Republic.
You cannot expect to do that to many of the best officers of your own military and expect that same military to be professional soldiers! Impossible! You can’t break your own military rules to follow and continue to pretend that there are rules that guide the military institution – goes against the very logic under which a military force is created.
As the old saying goes, to be a good leader, one has to be a good follower!
“As the old saying goes, to be a good leader, one has to be a good follower!”
Anna,
Hahah! Magkabagay talaga si Tianak at Assperon!
So, what’s Gloria got to do with, she’s the commander-in-chief, albeit fake? As President (daw) she ‘s immune to charges. Can she be sued by the accused military after her (fake) term, command responsibility wise?
“……..the defense lawyers was pleading/demanding for a copy of PTA…sagot ng jago( voice of col loy) the PTA is confidential only to the chief of staff and the military lawyer, it may not be furnished………”
a pre trial investigation report used in a court proceeding, CONFIDENTIAL? ala, ay even though i am not study lawyer, i understanding it is only a by product of their foolish heart, ey!
mga tinamaan kayo ng kulog, sarap ninyong tiradurin sa yagbols!
general yano, sir, sayang ang pagiging isang medalyadong opisyal mo. huwag ka naman sanang tumulad ka huwad na CSAFP. hindi ka sa ganyan nakilala noong tinyente ka pa lamang!
magpakita ka naman at gumawa ng isang magiging PINAKAMABULUHANG KABANATA ng iyong pagiging isang opisyal – ang paggawad ng TUNAY na katarungan sa kaso ng mga walang kasalanang MARARANGAL at MAGIGITING na mga kinakawawa ng tambalang gloria-esperon!
……huwag ka naman sanang tumulad SA huwad na CSAFP.