Update: Army Scout Ranger and Marine officers who walked out of their hearing before a military court last week could be held liable for “breach of discipline,” Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Monday.
Click photos above to enlarge.Officers pay tribute to Maj. Basilio Pooten, military defense lawyer, (next to Gen. Miranda)who refused to be used by the court to trample upon the rights of the accused officers.
Last Friday, the officers accused of planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006 led by Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and their lawyers walked out of the court martial hearing in Camp Capinpin, Tanay Rizal.
It was an occasion where officers and lawyers were called upon to make a stand. Many courageously responded.One man stood out: Maj. Basilio Pooten, the military defense counsel.
I was there, and here’s what happened:
The exchanges in the morning session, just like in the past three hearings, centered on the unsigned pre-trial advice which is supposedly one of the basis of the charges against the 28 officers. The prosecution headed by Trial Judge Advocate Col. Feliciano Loy pushed for the resumption of the peremptory challenges and called on Capt. Isagani Criste, one of the six officers who have not exercised their right to peremptory challenge.
(When a member of a panel is challenged peremptorily by the accused, he is automatically ejected from the court.)
Criste’s lawyer, Alex Avisado, objected and moved that the proceedings be suspended until the PTA is signed by AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon. The PTA, submitted by Col. Pedro Davila, staff judge advocate, to Esperon recommended the disapproval of the of the Pre-trial Investigation report (PTIR) prepared by the team headed by Col. Al Perreras, which recommended the dismissal of mutiny charges against all the 37 accused officers and the filing of the lesser charge of conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman against some of the officers.
Just like in the past hearings, the defense lawyers argued that the PTA constitutes the information sheet and unless it is signed, it’s merely a scrap of paper. As Frank Chavez, Miranda’s lawyer said, “I shudder at the thought that in a civilian court, a man is charged with murder based on an unsigned information sheet.”
The court instructed the trial Judge Advocate to write the Chief of Staff and get a written comment on the matter. At past 12 noon, the court went into a lunch break.
When the court resumed at 1:30 p.m., it ruled that it was denying the motion for suspension of proceedings until Esperon signs the PTA.
The court said Esperon’s Nov. 17, 2006 memo referring to both the PTIR and the PTA in creating the special general court martial to try the officers, suffices as basis for the trial.The panel’s president, Maj. Gen. Jorgy Fojas ordered the resumption of the challenges.
Chavez stood up and declared: “I cannot take part in these sham proceedings. Sham because the accused are not legally charged. I have advised my client that he has the right not to participate in these sham proceedings. “ Then he walked out.
One after another the other lawyers followed with their own stand not to participate in the proceedings until they are given a copy of a signed PTA. I remember Attorneys Rolando Cipriano, Vicente Verdadero, Rodrigo Artuz, Alex Avisado, Nole Panganiban, Jose Miguel Palarca, Ronald Ubaña, Ma. Cristina Garcia, Johnmuel Mendoza, Dante Xenon Atienza, Ian Pangalangan. They all walked out.
Outside the courtroom, I saw troops with red armbands and shields arriving and scurrying to secure the place.
Attorneys Gilbert Gallos, counsel for Col. Orlando de Leon, and Trixie Angeles, counsel for Capt. Ruben Guinolbay initially stayed and moved for a reconsideration of the panel on their motion to suspend the proceedings until a signed PTA is produced. “The career and life of my client are at stake,” Angeles pleaded.
The court denied their motion. Col. Loy moved to appoint the two as counsels for the accused. At this point, Angeles stood up and said, “As a member of the legal profession, I fear of lending my presence to the validation of this illegal proceedings. I asked to be excused.” Then she walked out. Gallos made the same manifestation and also walked out.
The only one left was Maj. Pooten, the military lawyer. The court appointed him counsel for the accused. He told the court that the accused officers have a right to counsel of their choice. He said, “I am an officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and at the same time a lawyer. I will not allow myself to trample upon the rights of the accused gentlemen officers and be a party to the denial of their Constitutional rights. And by these, your Honors, I ask to be excused from these proceedings.”
Pooten was ordered to stay in the court room. The court ordered the resumption of the peremptory challenge. Loy called one by one the officers that have not exercised their right to peremptory challenge. First was Capt. Criste, who underscored three points: “I am not availing of the services of the military counsel. I am not waiving my right to peremptory challenge. I will only exercise it in the presence of counsel of my choice and when I’m given a copy of the signed PTA.”
Next to be called was Capt. Allan Aurino who made the same manifestation as Criste. Same thing with Capt. Frederick Sales, 1Lt. Ervin Divinagracia, and 1Lt. Jacon Cordero.
I saw 1Lt. Homer Estolas raising his hand as the court was giving its decision saying that the six have been deemed to have waived their right to peremptory challenge. They didn’t know that there is still one who have not done so. The TJA and the panel ignored Estolas, who has not exercised his right to peremptory challenge.
At this point, Col. Ariel Querubin stood up. Then all the officers stood up and followed Gen. Miranda to the door. Col.Arnulfo Marcos, the commanding officer of the custodial management unit, tried to stop the officers: “Huwag kayong lumabas. Balik kayo sa upuan. Cool lang.” (Don’t leave. Back to your seats. Stay cool.).
Maj. Jason Aquino told him, “Nakita mo nang binababoy kami. Manindigan ka naman” (You see that our rights are being trampled. Make a stand.)
Miranda ordered: “Padaanin nyo kami, kaso namin ito (Get out of our way. This is our case).” Marcos had to give way.
Unaware that they have not called Lt. Estolas to exercise his right to peremptory challenge, members of the court went on with their oathtaking. Afterwards, Lt. Col. Marian Aliedo told reporters, “The court is now duly-constituted.”
The manual for court martial, however, states that the court becomes fully constituted once the peremptory challenges shall have all been exercised by the accused.
Outside the court, Col. Segumalian saluted Maj. Pooten: “Basil, I’m higher in rank than you but I salute you for standing up for your principles.You know of course that what you did won’t please the military leadership.”
Pooten replied,”I just did what I believe is right. What ever happens, I would still be a lawyer.”
Maj. Pooten gives us hope that when decision time comes, there are enough men of honor in the military who will remember their duty to be “the protector of the people and the State.”
Photo captions:
1. Gen. Miranda, Maj. Pooten, Col. Achilles Segumalian and Brig. Gen. Danny Lim.
2. Gen. Miranda, Maj. Pooten, Gen. Lim, Capt. Isagani Criste, Col. Nestor Flordeliza, and Capt. Montano Almodovar.
Related stories: Accused ‘coup plotters’ salute warrior-lawyer
Last five Army Rangers enlisted personnel finally questioned.
Statement from the detained officers in Camp Capinpin:
WE SALUTE YOU MAJOR BASILIO POOTEN (JAGS)
“I am an officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and at the same time a lawyer. I will not allow myself to trample upon the rights of the accused gentlemen officers and be a party to the denial of their Constitutional rights. And by these, your Honors, I ask to be excused from these proceedings.”
Fighting words said under the sharp and glaring eyes of Col Marian Aleido, the Law member of the Special General Court Martial #2 trying the twenty-eight (28) Marines and Scout Rangers in Tanay.
We, Marines and Scout Rangers, salute you Major Pooten. You proved yourself to be a true Marine. Being a lawyer, you may not have been a Marine all your career life, but you surely had imbibed that WARRIOR spirit and honor. You have refused to be cowed into toeing the line emanating from illegitimate orders.
You humbled us by entertaining thoughts that you will succumb to the whims and caprices of Mister Esperon. How wrong we were. However, we worry for you Major Pooten. Given the vengeful character of the present leadership of the AFP, you might find yourself out in the cold. However, we have no doubt in our minds that you will weather the storm given the kind of stuff you are made of.
Col Marian Aleido, you are a great disappointment. You have been with the Marines also, longer than Major Pooten. We only had great admiration for your sense of justice and fairness and religious fervor then. However, as the trial progressed, we observed a very disturbing transformation in you which is way out of character…way out of what we have always known you. What happened Col Aleido?
Major Pooten, you have provided us with an inspiration that there are still decent officers in the AFP. We are aware there are more like you. We call on their moral and professional sense to stop the bastardization of our Military Justice System. We, officers in Tanay, are just collateral victims in this drama. The real victim here is our justice system.
What an exit! Great stuff!
Ellen,
Can’t believe this sort of thing will ever happen in the West. My husband is a bit flummoxed. Unheard of… amazing that the court martial panel couldn’t do anything. They know they’re in the wrong. If Esperon’s court martial was only done properly and FOR THE RIGHT REASON, this sort of thing would never ever happen.
From afar, one can only shake one’s head and ask what the whole circus is all about. Easy enough to follow rules.
The “accused” officers walked out and they couldn’t be ordered back to their seats and the panel chair couldn’t call on the MPs to put the accused in shackles because they know they are in the wrong.
Why is Esperon hell bent on breaking the military and on submitting it to worse than amateurism? I’m sure even the members of the panel are finding it so difficult, that deep in their heart, they know they cannot continue what is militarily unthinkable, i.e., bringing the military to an all time low. But as ever, these members of the court martial panel have got to make a stand, they call on every ounce of their military courage to say to Esperon — this is a war we cannot win!
Suddenly, the tables are turning. Another one stands up for righteousness in an institution struggling to remain truly professional by refusing to be trammeled by an illegitimate ruler and her manacles, personified by a bunch of callous mercenaries who allow themselves to prostitute the rule of law for their own selfish ends.
We thank the Marines for giving us a fine Major Basil Pooten, truly a warrior of the people. Maj. Pooten, along with the incarcerated officers, give us enough glint of hope that MORE GOOD MEN still do exist and at the perfect moment, will stand up and be counted. Let these beacons light the path for the rest of them on these dark days until the final destination of this perilous journey has been reached. May God continue to strengthen them.
A salute to a fine officer and a gentleman, Major Pooten, sir!
Don’t loose hope there still A FEW GOOD MEN lingering to
break the Espe Line. Camp Capinpin will not be the LAST
CASTLE of Gen. Miranda and principled Officers.
For the first time in over a year of trial in Camp Capinpin, Col Aleido talked to members of media after their oathtaking. As she was talking to Jay Ruiz of ABS-CBN, she said, “You are from print?” She noticed the TV camera. “Oh you are from TV.”
I asked, “What about print media, Ma’am?”
She replied, “I hope you would be accurate.”
I asked, “What do you mean by ‘accurate'”.
She replied, “To also write about our side.”
I told her, ” We only write what transpired in the courtroom”.
Charmaine Deogracias of NHK TV said, “But this is the only time that you talked with us!”
Aleido said “Because we have a spokesman, Col.Bacarro”.
We carry Col. Bacarro’s statements. If it’s drowned by the more substantial statements of the lawyers of the accused, there’s nothing that journalists can do about it.
Col. Aleido said in the interview that they consider the Nov. 17, 2006 memo “implied approval of the PTA”. That’s the basis for their going ahead with the trial.
A reporter asked Col Aleido, “If that’s is so, what for was your order in the morning for the TJA to “make a written communication with the CS. Whatever his action is, produce the document.”
“Why couldn’t you just wait for the result of your order to the TJA?”, Charmaine Deogracias of NHK asked.
Aleido said something referring to the Nov. 17, 2006 memo.
Ellen, what’s the effect of Lt. Estolas not exercising his right to peremptory challenge?
That was an exciting event last Friday. Sayang that it’s held in far away Tanay. Only few are able to witness it.
I’m sure that’s the reason Esperon put it there.
Gabriela, the lawyers will have to correct me on this. But I think the oathtaking is void. If the oathtaking is void, that means the court is not duly constituted up to now. Lt. Estolas has to exercise his right to peremptory challenge before the oathtaking of members of the court because if he had decided to exercise it, one of the members of the court would have been automatically ejected. and he would not be qualified to take his oath.
This is another anomaly in that anomaly of a court martial trial.
Aleido must be very confused because in the morning she reminded the defense lawyers that in the previous hearings, during one of the sidebars, it was agreed that the defense lawyers would write Esperon to ask him to sign the PTA.
The defense laywers were flabbergasted. They were shaking their head in disagreement.
Frank Chavez said,”it is unthinkable and absurd for the defense panel here to beg the convening authority of this court to nail our clients by asking him to sign the PTA.”
Oo nga naman.
ellen, may asawa ba itong si aleido? gaano na ba siya katagal sa serbisyo? sa tinuran ng mga detained officers sa kanya, wondering what on earth happened to her, sa biglang pagsirko yata ng prinsipyo niya, mukhang may kapana-panabik na dahilan.
Myrna, I don’t know about Col Aleido’s personal circumstances. I’ll ask.
Col Marian Aleido looks like a witch already. Others say she looks like an evil woman.
Col Marian Aleido used to be with the JAGO of the Philippine Marines. Col Querubin, Col de Leon, Col Segumalian and Lt Ferrer personally know her to be a fair and God fearing woman lawyer.
I have to make a correction. Someone called my attention that actually there were seven among the accused who have not exercised their right to peremptory challenge.
Six (Captains Criste,Aurino and Sales and 1st lieutenants Divinagracia, Cordero, Sereno) were called.
The seventh, who was not called was 1lt Estolas.
Ewan ko kung hindi pa na konsensya si Col Aleido. Baka gusto maging General na.
Per Col Loy’s list seven didnot exercise the peremptory challenge but Lt Sereño, being honest, said that he already exercised his peremptory challege.
So its only the six mentioned above who did not exercise it yet. However, Lt. Estolas was the only one who was not called. He even raised his hand to complain but since Col Loy was in a hurry to do the oath taking of the members of the panel, he thought Lt Estolas was insignificant. He didnt pay attention to Lt Estolas.
Sa sobrang pagmamadali naging careless sila. Pahiya na naman sila.
Col Marian Aleido is married with children. Her husband i think is abroad.
Thanks, Army Ranger. Pati ako confused na rin. But I’m sure about Lt. Estolas not being called because I saw him raise his hands.
Then the next thing I saw, everybody was walking out. That was an exciting coverage.
Col Aleido must be in a lot of pressure but that is no excuse not to do things right!
Ellen, I spoke to a few lawyers and they are saying the same thing, that the swearing in is void. The more this sham kangaroo court make mistakes, the better for the accused. All their blunders in the trials are noted and subsequently submitted to the courts where there are pending cases. If asspweron thinks he can get away with all his railroading, he has to be kidding!
The only big concern everyone of these lawyers have is the integrity of our judicial system. If the justices hearing the cases of these officers have their integrity in place, the officers will have their liberties soon. But if they are just a bunch of wannabe Supreme Court Justices in tiyanak’s time, the officers are in for a bumpier ride.
AS Juggernaut had indicated, the chain of command has to be followed at all times. Aleido must be following the orders of asspweron to the letter!
Even MGen Jorgy Leo Fojas , J3 – Operations from the Philippine Army PMA Class 1976, became “BASTOS” already. When the lawyers were asking to be excused from the sham proceedings, he would cut them short by saying, “ikaw rin, you are excused” even when the lawyer was just starting to talk he would say “you are excused”…
So disappointing for the officers who gave their trust on him. They did not challenge him expecting that he would be fair and just.
Mabuti na lang Ellen hindi ka kasama sa “lunch” kundi, we would not have the blow by blow account of what had happened in the kangaroo court on the 9th of November.
Gen fojas wants to be a Division Commander already that is why he is making sipsip to the bones.
The enlisted personnel standing as security were all listening attentively during the proceedings, that is why they just walked beside the officers. They did not dare touch them or stop them.
Army ranger, that means napipikon na rin si Gen. Fojas. That’s good.
What I’m afraid about is what a pikon esperon would do to the accused. More injustices?
Thank you Miss Ellen for being there for us families, who could not be around to witness the hearings.
Everything is being railroaded indeed. A sign that the admin people and the chief of staff are in haste to save their future. (Takot si Esperon mawalan ng retirement benefits in case kukupal kupal sya)
More power!
Yes, PSB, Invictus. Charmaine and I are also thanking our stars that we did not go with Col. Galvez (he is an amiable guy) to lunch outside the camp. They came back 3 pm na, after the action. All the defense lawyers had left and the accused officers were already back in their detention quarters.
Only Bacarro and members of the panel were available for interview.
Nakakainis nga. Kung kailan pa ako walang baon na sandwich saka pa nag-stretch ang hearing up to afternoon. We tried to look for a place to eat inside the camp, wala naman. It’s a good thing the detainees sent us food. Nkakahiya. Sila pa ang nagbigay ng pagkain sa amin.Pahirapan pa because they didn’t know where we were and the ones who brought the food to us were not allowed past the security barricade. Matinding paki-usapan. I had to cite “humanitarian reasons” because nahihilo na ako sa gutom.
I don’t actually blame the others who went with Col. Galvez. Malas lang that the walkout happened when they were not there.
Col Querubin followed the chain of command till the end but he is still in prison.
They have no choice but to follow the chain of command, to do otherwise and go unpunished will have a precedent that will be damaging to the corps in the long run. Unfortunately in this case GMA, Esperon and others hold all the aces and apparrently are using them arrogantly as if they themselves are immune from the day of reckoning. The other officers not involved are well advised to limit their involvement as indeed any links will be taken against them and will be detrimental to their careers, its still a job, just like any other, and they have families also.
We can only pin our hopes to these lawyers and members of the press who have been there from day 1 to keep the pressure up until this is over.
I wonder if Esperon and his kangaroo courts will be as agressive in their treatment of the soldiers who are involved in extrajudicial killings?
Ellen and Charmaine’s presence was really a blessing. The Lord intervened. Even with the case of Lt Estolas. Maybe even until now they are not aware that they missed Lt. Estolas.
Juggernaut:I wonder if Esperon and his kangaroo courts will be as agressive in their treatment of the soldiers who are involved in extrajudicial killings?
Look at what happened to Palparan? Special mention pa in GMA’s statte of the nation address.
Even esperon. look at how he is handling the Jonas Burgos case?
Juggernaut, why do they have to be punished? For what? No one joined the rally. They followed the instructions of Gen Senga to the letter so what was their offense? with the case of Col Querubin: Gen Senga said on Friday morning of Feb 24, 2006 that Col Querubin was not relieved, he was not in hiding. If the marine stand off on Feb 26 ,2006 did not happen then he has no case. Even during the stand off, he just answered the questions of the media and told the truth. He did not call the media.
LCol Segumalian just wanted a clean and honest election. So why is he in prison now?
The others were just called to attend a meeting since they were part of the staff. Some were incarcerated while the others were not.
I agree with Juggernaut that “The other officers not involved are well advised to limit their involvement as indeed any links will be taken against them and will be detrimental to their careers, its still a job, just like any other, and they have families also.”.
Those in the active service who are sympathetic to the detainees could do them a favor by not showing their sentiments openly. They would be more of help inside than outside.
Alam nyo na yan.
But look at Marine Gen Jonathan Martir, he went on AWOL for more than a year and was receiving salary even while on AWOL, what did the AFP do? They promoted him to General last December 2006 even if he has a case. It is a good thing he was he was not yet confirmed by the Commission on Appointments up to now. Is this not setting a very bad precedent.
In the AFP now a days, if you steal cheat and lie… you get juicy positions and you get promoted.
If you are against stealing and cheating, you are incarcerated.
Yes the officers in Tanay perfectly understand the situation of their classmates. They dont expect any help or visits from them but their other classmaters still make effort to extend an helping hand thru their wives or other people.
Palparan during a birthday party of one of his friends gave a speech and he mentioned that there were more killings before, it is only the media who is making a big issue out of it now. In the military especially in the Philippine Army, extra judicial killings is part of their operations, not in writing though.
army ranger,
My sentiments exactly even at the beginning, I didn’t see any case! There was no coup, no plot, nothing, thats why I really believe some of these GMA officers are just “pumapapel” or are just afraid of Querubin et al. And these men are career soldiers not “politicized” officers ie “aide to senators or congressmen” there is no historical precedent. I refuse to believe Esperon and his staff are stupid enough not to see this earlier on, is he just following orders from GMA? Maybe even covering his own behind so as not to imperile his retirement benefits and some unknown perks?
Juggernaut, whether asspweron or the tiyanak hold the aces, they still have to honor the constituttion and the laws of the land. These soldiers have rights too like everybody else.
Gabriela, I agree with you that these allied officers should be “double agents”. They can not blow their cover because they are more beneficial to the incarcerated soldiers that way. I believe that we have other men of honor in the force and they are surely with the incarcerated officers in thoughts not necessarily in deed.
Juggernaut, if indeed the chain of command should be followed, those involved in the extra-judicial killings just executed the command. I do not think the asspweron will be as ferrocious to the “killers”.
“In the AFP now a days, if you steal cheat and lie… you get juicy positions and you get promoted.
If you are against stealing and cheating, you are incarcerated.”
This has been happening before but discretely, and oftentimes restrained. But in this administration, its gone crazy, GMA has no respect for the military institution whatsoever, she is destroying it from within and it seems she cannot be stopped.
Or she has lost control.
She is at the mercy of the generals to whom she owes her presidency.
Off topic:
I wonder what would happen if ordinary citizens like you and me start filing our individual impeachment complaints? I wonder if the sycophant congressmen like Defensor could still so flippantly dismiss the charges once he sees an army of angry citizens storming the gates of the Batasan, all brandishing their copies of the complaint?
Sounds like a good idea Skip!
Just read asspweron’s pronouncement that the “accused” had breached discipline. I wish this asspweron would look at his face on the mirror and see how he looks-a pathetic clown! How can one discipline his men when he can not even discipline himself-a cheat and a liar and may I add, a USER!
Thanks PSB.
Maybe the lawyers in Ellenville can inform us how one actually goes about filing an impeachment complaint. I think the time has come for us to wrest power from those “representative” who only represent their own interests.
So, who says that the Constitutional rights of these soldiers are not guaranteed by the Constitution that they themselves have taken an oath to uphold regardless of whatever military rule they have there being implemented presently in accordance with the wiles and whims of a criminal being cajoled and spoiled by her fellow criminal whom she promoted to BGen. and her Cheat of Staff or should it be Cheating Staff?
In a democracy, nobody is above the law, and the government is supposed to be BY, OF and FOR the PEOPLE, not a midget who has reportedly stolen 1M votes to make herself “President of the Philippines”
Beats me why the criminal cannot be just disqualified, arrested and jailed for violating the Election Code of the Philippines, etc. It is actually just a matter of common sense as a matter of fact. No need to go through such stupid impeachment that should be applicable only to people who have been duly elected by the people, not one who has stolen her position with votes manufactured by her deputies. Ang bobo naman!!!
No charge sheet, no trial — that’s the rule of law.
Ellen,
In my opinion, Esperon and his henchmen have put themselves in between the devil and the deep blue sea.
The longer they hold their circus court, trial without proper evidences and charge sheets signed, the more they are pushing the reasonable officers of the AFP in general to grumble. One cannot continuously try to maintain the chain of command intact when the very leader of the institution makes a mockery of military procedures.
These soldiers (officers) are bound to snap — the chain of command is maintained when the officers at the top enforce it, i.e., respect it. How? Follow the rules, stick to the rules and don’t go around prancing around with it like it’s some baton used in carnival parades by pom pom girls.
When the officers begin to grumble, the men, the ordinary soldiers will feel it and before you know it, discipline will loosen and what happens? Morale will dip pitch low, will be hard to re-establish discipline until those who caused it is kicked out of service.
Today, the ripple of discontent is being felt across the board. The incarcerated officers accused of some wishy washy ‘crime against the state’ are the epitome of courage — they have among them 2 of the medal of Valor awardees, that’s difficult to forget.
Somebody has got to decide. Senga couldn’t decide, Esperon knew he was walking on a tightrope hence couldn’t sign the PTA because the PTI couldn’t find sufficient evidence to charge the officers with a military crime and now officers topside are finding themselves in such shit scenario, they are running around like chickens without heads to contain the grumbling in the AFP.
Unless, one makes a decision to do the right thing, i.e., free these officers or do the right thing so that they could be tried properly, military might implode! We don’t want that, we don’t need that. The military is the last bastion of discipline in this country. If it goes berserk, you have a real banana republic in the offing.
Is Esperon prepared to do battle with the military for Gloria? Is she worth it? No!
Reason why Esperon cannot sign the charge sheet? Simple!
Unless there are strong physical evidences to support government/AFP case against him, BGen Lim cannot be charged with MUTINY. Act of MUTINY involves THREE or more officers who must be shown that they had invoked an implicit THREAT of violence against a superior officer, Geneneral Senga in this case.
A mutiny CANNOT be committed by only ONE person. To make the charge of mutiny stick, it is important to establish the physical content and the word exchange during the “meeting” between Senga and Lim. Was Lim accompanied by equally threatening officers or men? What exactly did he say to Senga? Pretty clear cut actually.
As you know, the case of mutiny, as in other cases of purely military offences, can be pretty clear cut under Articles of War. There is NO such military crime as “INTENT TO INCITE SOMEONE TO COMMIT MUTINY”.
It was technically Gen Senga’s command responsibility as the highest military officer in the AFP at the time to stop all such “intent” before the “incitement” takes place.
If it were true that Lim was in the act of mutinying during his interview with Senga, the latter should have had him arrested on the spot manus militaris but since Senga did not do anything of the sort save to ask him to go back to his quarters, what crime was committed?!
Same thing with Maj Gen Miranda, Colonel Ariel Querubin and co. Did they return to barracks or not? Did they mutiny or not? As far as I can remember — they went back to barracks.
As for the charge, attempted coup d’état or foiled coup d’état? How could anything be foiled if nothing by way of violent engagement happened? Don’t understand Esperon!
In a democracy, the military is the guarantor of a Republic’s independence, the protector of its citizens and the guardian of its Constitution but the walkout is a veiled threat to the powers that be, i.e., “You treat us right, we obey, you treat us shit, we walk away!”
In spite of the many coup attempts against Cory Aquino, she was able to DEFEAT the military because she was coming from a “higher moral ground”. During the time of FVR, the military went back to its institutional role, fighting rebels and the enemies of the Republic instead of fighting the ordinary citizens of the nation. But Gloria has none of that moral high ground.
Our military is far from being perfect – it is highly politicized, many of its elements are corrupt, it has no real esprit de corps. Like it’s civilian counterpart, the military is disunited and dispirited.
Having said that, the military had hopes of becoming professional but Gloria single-handedly destroyed the last fiber of professionalism in the military institution.
Not content with having urged and organized a mutiny after which she led a coup d’état in 2001 to topple a duly Constitutional government, she decided to further corrupt the military – am not speaking of money here – to the bone by treating it like a band of merceneries.
Because of this, Gloria will find that she has created a monster which she will not be able to control pretty soon; that in order for her to curb some ambitious folks in the military, she will have to corrupt the rest some more.
But sooner or later, Gloria will lose because a president must remember that she cannot continue play or toy with the military and wield it like the sword of damocles over the nation’s 80 million heads if she CANNOT DISCIPLINE them.
To “discipline the military”, she must be prepared to SHOOT those who don’t follow orders. She must be prepared to take on the military and SHOOT those that err but if she does’nt want to shoot them, she’s got to bribe the others, i.e., Esperon and co who know she WILL NOT SHOOT. So the cycle goes – it really is going to be a catch 22 issue.
This walkout is proof that the military is grumbling. Unless she shows force and proves that she can deal with “erring” military in fire for fire fashion, Gloria is a goner. The rest of the military will have her head sooner or later!
Our only hope is to have a snap election and re-establish a Constitutional government through a valid democratic exercise. If that happens, the military will go back to barracks and assume their proper role.
A truly democratic government with a valid unquestionable mandate is our only defence against military adventurism.
In a true democracy, the military is the last component of a Republic to go wayward when everything else seems to be lost. But when that democracy is wobbly, the military is the first to break from the Republic.
Beware Gloria, you shall reap what you sow!
But how can she “discipline” the military if the whole world knows she uses its top dogs to do the most sinister things on her behalf? IMPOSSIBLE!
Thanks a lot AdeBrux. Well said and explained. Mabuhay ka!!
Manila Bay Watch: This blog salutes Marine Major Basilio Pooten!
keisha10 Says: November 10th, 2007 at 6:28 am
ellen,
after the incident yesterday, bacarro,mrs. querubin were interviewed. after a few minutes, mr. esperon was interviewed? i was not able to hear that interview but someone said mr esperon made a comment ala santa claus….”better watch out, boys???” how true????
what does he mean???mas pahihirapan sila??? o pamilya ng mga ito????
My take: Keisha, do you think Esperon might be thinking of summarily dismissing the officers same way he did with the ordinary soldiers? (If Esperon is contemplating dismissing the officers, he will be in a hell of a lot of trouble!)
“In a letter to his son, Ninoy Aquino explained why he was not participating in the military tribunal trying him on charges of murder, subversion and illegal possession of firearms.
He told his son his action could earn him death by musketry or life imprisonment.
“By adopting the course of action I decided upon this afternoon, I have literally decided to walk into he very jaws of death,” he said.”
“You may ask, ‘Why did you do it?’ Son, my decision is an act of conscience. It is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen,” he said.
“Futile and puny, as it will surely appear to many, it is my last act of defiance against tyranny and dictatorship.”
To the Few Good Men: You are not alone!
Equalizer, thanks for Ninoy’s letter.
Skip, I will have to be a kill joy. Forget about impeachment. It has to begin at the House of Thieves.
According to Gandhi, the WILLING sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.
Ellen,
The thieves rob us of our money. They rob us of our institutions. They rob us of our dignity. Now they rob
us of that one constitutional recourse for redress of our grievances.
That’s one heckuva karmic debt to pay.
skip:they must have Japanese influence!
They “rob” us very much ! (translation “love”)
Indeed they do, Equalizer.
That’s also probably why we get screwed everytime there are “elections”.
Whadya all mean by Japanese pronouncing love “rob” — sheesh… now how on earth will they pronounce “elections”?
“When you are in the military, you have to accept the fact you have rejected your right to say what you want to say, how you want to dress, where you want to be. At the word of the commander, they should rise early, climb mountains, endure bad weather, endure hard terrain and the bullet of the enemy … I do that every now and then to my men in our training.”Mr.Esperon
Esperon’s quote:
Esperon maintained that he would not sign the PTA, saying, “I do not have to, I do not have to.”
Does it also mean if your commander says “Cheat”, you will also cheat. Was that what happened in 2004?
Esperon: “I do not have to, I do not have to.”
Then he ought to resign!
“Erections” have been “crowded” by cheating by in the Philippines..observation of a Japanese journalist
Re again, from Esperon’s quote: “…endure hard terrain and the bullet of the enemy.”
Fine for a soldier to endure all that but not fine to endure a bullet from one of his own, i.e., from Esperon and his henchmen, that targets him/her because he, the accused soldier, is made of sterner moral courage.
Anna and Equalizer,
Hahaha. Pasintabi po kay Yuko. Peace.
“We are not to be regarded as a potent political force to be used by politicians in the furtherance of their vested interests. As mandated, we must remain apolitical.”
Hermogenes Esperon
Equalizer,
Re this last quote by Esperon, he should be forced to eat his own manure.
I think that’s what Mariannete Amper did when she took her own life. For her it’s not an escape or desperation.
It’s an Act of Protest!
She felt bad about this world. And if she’ll ever have another chance, she’ll definitely refuse going back.
“Activists exasperated at the failure of diplomacy to apply pressure on Burma’s military regime are resorting to a new means of protest against the regime’s recent crackdown: sending female underwear to Burmese embassies.
The move is a calculated insult to the junta and its leader, General Than Shwe. Superstitious junta members believe that any contact with female undergarments – clean or dirty – will sap them of their power.”
Let’s start “Used Panties For Esperon ” (UP for Esperon)
In your opinion,who is the worst ever Philippine President?
if,interested pls vote in my blog
The Equalizer, I’ve just voted…
Ellen: Anna:
At least the recent military events have proved beyond reasonable doubt that mr esperon is way way out of his depth and a true insult to the AFP as an institution.
One way or another he should be removed from the rank he holds – he’s certainly not worthy of the position he holds.
BTW what is the opinion of the Defense Secretary… does he speak ha ha ha!
Yuko, I suggested that too, for the opposition to just file charges on the midgets illegal presidency. She stole the votes using the military and all others. They should do this before the two Sandigan Bayan justices (the ones who convicted Erap) make it to the Supreme Court. They can use Doble’s testimony and even the 28 incarcerated officers know the officers who did the work for this midget! Asspweron had a big hand on this, He too should be thrown in jail! Why resort to impeachment? The opposition is recognizing this midget as a legitimate president. The opposition should just bypass the tongressmen and go straight to the Supreme Court while there is still time!
The Equalizer, hah,hah,hah…used panties? Boto ako diyan! O kaya batuhin na lang natin ng bugok na itlog…sabay sabay!
Alam na nga ng opposition na walang mangyayari sa impeachment nila kung ipapadaan nila sa tongreso eh sigue pa rin sila ng sigue. For an illegal president there should be a corresponding illegal procedure to take her out?
Besides mukhang may liquidation squad ang tiyanak at iniisa-isa niyang pinapapatay ang mga tao sa “kumolek” na nakakaalam ng milagro niya.
Thanks Ellen for posting about Major Pooten. I just found out that he is another kailiyan (from Sagada, Mt. Province). He makes me proud. As usual I “stole” some info from your blog and posted it in mine. Thanks.
Thanks for the info, Bill. He (Maj. Pooten) is really to be proud of.
I can imagine the four of them,your kailiyans, having a reunion every hearing in Camp Capinpin: Maj. Pooten, Capt. Ruben Guinolbay, Capt. Dante Langkit, and Capt. Joey Fontiveros. We should get a picture of them together.
Gen Lim and Col Querubin are “kailians” too. I am not sure if Col Banez is also an Ilocano.
From Ed Umali:
I have been wondering why C/S Esperon refuses to sign the PTA? He says that the actions of the detained officers, questioning the unsigned PTA, thus not participating in the court martial proceeding, is a simple delaying tactic.
I don’t know how low is Esperon’s IQ but by signing the PTA, he eliminates the claimed basis of the officers non-participation. Is there a deeper reason why Esperon is avoiding putting his signature on the PTA? Is there a legal consequence if he signs the PTA?
It’s really a puzzle also to me. Even without his signature, he (Esperon) would still be held accountable for the illegal incarceration of the 28 officers and 40 enlisted personnel.
Excuse po. Anna, has your blog been defaced?
Word of advice to stock market players: Get out now!
mabuhay ka maj pooten. isa kang tunay na “a lawyer gentleman”
Ellen, how true is the rumor that a high ranking Naval officer emissary (relative of GMA)went up to Tanay to ask for a cease-fire of the press-statements? From what I heard, the good men in Tanay laughed at the proposal. I think — but this is just my personal opinion — Malacanang is getting nervous over Esperon’s escalating word war with the 28. They can’t control Esperon who has his own ideas about “defending” his primary patron.
Taking this last incident into that context, what next?
I have been searching for Commonwealth Act 408 (Articles of War), but can’t find any online source.
The case, however, of Lisandro Abadia v. Court of Appeals and Marcelino Malajacan (G.R. No. 105597) states that CA 408 is copied from the military code of 1928 of the US, save for a few amendments.
Sec 834 of that (US) code states that:
“(a) Before directing the trial of any charge by general court-martial, the convening authority shall refer it to his staff judge advocate for consideration and advice. The convening authority may not refer a specification under a charge to a general court-martial for trial unless he has been advised in writing by the staff judge advocate that
(1) the specification alleges an offense under this chapter;
(2) the specification is warranted by the evidence indicated in the report of investigation under section 832 of this title (article 32) (if there is such a report); and
(3) a court-martial would have jurisdiction over the accused and the offense.”
It seems that the convening authority cannot amend the recommendation of the investigating officer.
Somebody said here that the recommendation is totally different. Is that why Esperon does not want to sign? Because there is no provision for an amended charge?
Maybe it is time to file for habeas corpus and dismissal for violation of the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial.
The civil courts are given thirty days within which to commence trial. The military should not take longer, considering that in the Abadia-Malajacan case, the Supreme Court held that:
“These rights (speedy trial) are clearly available to all citizens even in the absence of statutory enactment. They cannot be denied to certain individuals because of gaps in the law for which they are not responsible. They cannot be taken away from certain individuals because of the nature of their vocation. Members of the military establishment do not waive individual rights on taking up military uniform.”
True, this move might trigger a trial, and the period of prescription would not be reached. But the statute of limitations is a mere law. There is the higher standard of the Constitutional guarantee of speedy trial. I would recommend going for habeas and a dismissal for violation of the right to speedy trial before the CA. Hopefully, they would get raffled to the division of Justice Villarama.
Gotcha asspweron! Thanks Atty. The Court of appeals in the last hearing of Col Querubin asked the military to show proof of prior cases where the PTA need not be signed. They were given 15 days. May mas malaki palang problema kung ganoon itong si asspweron because he can not overturn the PTI report.
In the PTI, the pretrial investigation, the officers were absolved from the mutiny charges and only a few were recommended for lesser charges like conduct unbecoming of an officer but what assperon did was he ordered for the PTA which overturned the recommendation of the PTI. Then this PTA is not valid!
While we’re at it, I think the people with military connections here should ask Senator Lacson, Biazon, and Congressman Golez to file a bill to amend CA 408. The Supreme Court intself, in the Abadia-Malajacan case has said that the new US military code reflects the changes in jurisprudence on civil rights, which has not been reflected in CA 408.
I-enact na lang ang bagong US military code, anyway, we have used their 1928 code all these years. No need to reinvent the wheel.
This is where I part company with other people who insist on everything being sariling atin.
I think the reasons why Esperon does not want to sign the PTA are the following:
1. Investigation Report dated July 7, 2006 by Ad Hoc Investigating Committee headed by RAdm Rufino Lopez Jr and 8 other military officers including one officer from JAGS – Recommended among other things the filing of mutiny and other charges to 13 marine officers and 25 Officers from the Scout Rangers
2. Pre Trial Investigation Report dated Oct 26, 2006 by Col Perreras and 2 other military lawyers recommended that mutiny charges should be dropped because there is no probable cause and only 18 officers should be charged with Art 96 for unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Atty, Col Querubin’s wife already filed the habeas and had the oral hearing in Justice Villama’s court on the 8th of November. He asked the military to show prior cases where the PTA need not be signed prior to any hearing. They are due in court again after 15 days from the hearing.
continuation:
3 Pre Trial Advice dated November 7, 2006 by Col Pedro Davila, Staff Judge Advocate of Chief of Staff recommended that 12 Marine Officers and 25 Officers from the Scout Rangers be charged with mutiny and Unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman which was released to the accused only in June 2007 while the PTI was realesed on March 1, 2007.
(prior to the relaease of the PTA, Col Davila told some lawyers and some accused during the Dec 14, 2006 hearing that the PTA also recommended the same recommendation as the PTI)When it was released in june 2006, a wife of one of the accused while she was about to go inside the office of the secretariat to get copy of PTA, overheard Col Davila scolding the Capt Peel member of secretariat, for releasing the PTA without changing yet the…. then Col Davila stopped when he saw the wife.
4. On October 20, 2006 Dept of Justice filed Rebellion Charges against 7 marine officers 8 scout ranger officers and other civilians. They had two hearings Nov 13 & 20, 2006 but case was never heard of anymore.
continuation:
5. November 24, 2006 issued a memorandum creating SPECIAL GENERAL COURT MARTIAL No. 2. where 11 officers and 19 scout rangers were charged with mutiny. In his memorandum it simply says;… in reference to the PTIR and PTA without explaining what is the basis for dismissing the 7 other officers and basis for charging the officers with mutiny and other charges.
6. Dec 14, 2006 – first court martial hearing was held.
2 marine officers were ordered release and restored to active duty per verbal instruction of AFP Chief of Staff thru Staff Judge Advocate Col Pedro Davila which is in the minutes or TSN of the Dec 14 hearing.
So now Esperon does not want to approve or disapprove the PTA. In the hearing last October 19, 2007, the law member ordered the Trial Judge Advocate (TJA) to communicate with Esperon re: the signing of the PTA. But during the November 9, 2007 hearing the TJA said that he intimately told the the SJA Col Davila about the signing of the PTA. Col Loy the TJA said that he cannot force Esperon a four star general to do the menial job of signing the PTA or coerce him to sign approve or disapprove. Again the law member ordered Col Loy to communicate with Esperon in writting about the PTA.
Even if i am not a lawyer, i am aware that before anyone is charged with any crime or violation of the articles of war, there should be a written explanation of the charges. so lawyers would know how to defend thier clients.
In this case, Esperon merely says charge them with mutiny with no explanation whatsoever.
If he based his recommendation on the charge sheet dated july 20, 2006, he cant continue using it because 38 people were charged with conspiracy to create mutiny and the accuser who signed the charge sheet already resigned from the military service.
The PTA should be attached to the charge sheet.
Army Ranger, so the PTI was released in March 2007 and the PTA just in June 2007 but asspweron started the court martial as early as December 2006. What was the basis of the court martial then? Just on the words of asspweron? Wow, this is unheard of talaga! I can not blame the incarcerated to disrespect asspweron’s sham kangaroo court!
Klingon, re:”Ellen, how true is the rumor that a high ranking Naval officer emissary (relative of GMA)went up to Tanay to ask for a cease-fire of the press-statements? From what I heard, the good men in Tanay laughed at the proposal. I think — but this is just my personal opinion — Malacanang is getting nervous over Esperon’s escalating word war with the 28. They can’t control Esperon who has his own ideas about “defending” his primary patron.”
“Taking this last incident into that context, what next?”
Oh you mean the visit of Rear Admiral Leonardo Calderon, AFP deputy chief of staff for Intelligence (J-2) two weeks ago. Yan din ang balita ko.
Bibeth Orteza posted this in the suceeding article:
November 13th, 2007 at 12:25 pm (Edit this comment)
Am back. Nagbakasyon ng kaunti. Pagbalik ko, papasok na sana agad ako rito. Pero nagitla ako ng kamatayan ni Dulce Saguisag, na naging dahilan din ng pagkaka-ICU ni Rene.
Tapos pa, naka-basa ako ng tanong, sa isa ring blog: “What next?”
Namanhid ako r’on, magkukunwari na sanang may jet lag pa. Hanggang next year, iyun pa rin ang gagamiting dahilan. Jet lag forever, meaning, manhid, forever.
Pero nabasa kita, Ellen. Ang tungkol sa walk-out. Ang tungkol kay Pooten. Para as akin kasi, may mga taong may dahilan kung bakit iyon ang pangalan. Si Dulce Saguisag, kasi sweet symbol siya, at si Pooten, well, nagalit ako uli. Na-poot. Wala na akong jet lag.
Salamat, Ellen, sa iyo, at sa lahat na patuloy na gumigising sa kamalayan ng lahat.
Ikaw talaga Bibeth, always a delight.
What’s this, Tongue:”Word of advice to stock market players: Get out now!”?
Anyway, take note.
Parasabayan, BGen Lim is not an Ilocano. He was born and raised in an Ilocano region,though. But anyway, I can truly say that he is more than an Ilocano. A well disciplined man, principled…toughest when fighting for the truth and for the lowliest oppressed soldier and countrymen for that matter.
Mabuhay ka!!!
Atty36252,
The Manual on Courts Martial says:
35. b. Reference to Staff Judge Advocate.– Subject to the provisions of this subsection, (35b) reference to a staff judge advocate will be made and his advice submitted in such manner and form as the convening authority may direct.
No appointing authority shall direct the trial of any charge by general court martial until he has considered the advice of his staff judge advocate based on all the information reltaing to the case, including any report made under subsection 35c (suspected insanity) which is reasonably available at the time trial is directed.
The adice of the staff judge advocate shall include a written and signed recommendation of the action to be taken by the appointing authority. Such recommendation will accompany the charges if referred for trial.
Si Major Bsilio Pooten ay isang tunay na officer ng AFP na may paniningdigan na ipaglaban ang tama at nararapat. Tunay na dumadaloy ang kanyang dugong mandirigma buhat sa kabundukan ng Kalinga Apayao, na kung saan ang tribu nila ay kilala sa pagiging headhunters. Asahan na natin ang mga paninirang maglalabasan mula sa mga sispsip at linta sa AFP laban kay Major Pooten. At hindi lamang siya, kundi ang butihing maybahay niya na si Leonor, ay pilit kakaladkarin para lamang sirain ang pagkatao at katapatan sa bayan ng magiting na si Major Pooten. Subalit tayo ay naniniwala na higit siyang paniniwalaan ng taongbayan kumapara sa mga bayarang Henerales ng AFP. Mabuhay ka Major Basilio Pooten!
At the last page of the PTA, there is stamp that says “Approved/Disapproved” and underneath that a blank, then again underneath the blank, the words “CS AFP” and a blank for the date.
The lawyers were saying that the blank indicates that Esperon did not consider the advice of his staff judge advocate. The reality is, he already made a decision, then asked Davila to draft an advice that makes it look like he had something to consider.
The blank is what Esperon did not sign.
Ellen,
Re: “:”Word of advice to stock market players: Get out now!”
I second the motion of Tongue. Hubby and I are converting our lil stock portfolio into investments with fixed rate returns.
We believe there’s gonna be a crash.
100$ a barrel of oil might trigger some kind of mini-panic so better get out now.
TT & AdB, papaano mangyayari iyan sa Pilipinas eh nuong nakaraang linggo lang naibalita sa Business section ng TDT na itong JP Morgan ay nagpakita ng interes na mag-invest sa Pinas?
JP Morgan to plunk in 3.7B for BPO project – The Daily Tribune 11/08/2007
http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/20071108bus2.html
Ellen,
I was only able te read the email a few minutes ago as I am now “suffering” in Water Front Hotel Davao, having to eat my fill of tuna and fresh seafood and then tomorrow going to the banana plantations in Bukidnon to see how a monkey feels in the midst of hectares of bananas.
Actually I am bound to agree with some points MB is pointing out as it has a historical perspective. Nothing good will ever come out of the military taking over or being complicit to a duly constituted authority no matter how we would like to get rid of that authority. The military have been politisized before by Marcos (Class ’71), Honasan et al, and the results were very dangerous indeed. The socialization of the military ie subvervience to civilian authority is vital, they must not be exposed to politics or be used by politicians, or even handle “political” prisoners for as long as they are in the service. Most especially political prisoners, as they are not equipped to “investigate” this is the job of the police, they can only “interrogate” and we all know this leads to torture. Even if the intention is good, it is more damaging to this institution in the long run, they have to remain apolytical as humanly possible. A military junta is the worse thing that could happen to any military, the soldiers will not know where to stop, as the dictum is obedience and not democratic procedures. If this happens we will witness the most principled of men become monsters overnight. The best way we can help our military is to shield them from the evils of politics.
GMA has not learned or refuses to learn from our experience with RAM and the reverberations that could still be felt in succeeding classes. Instead of stopping the politisation of the military, she made it even worse. We must by all means posible avoid involving the military even as we speak of getting rid of GMA and hopefully eradicating this legacy of patronage politics. I am am hoping the opposition will finally succeed in getting rid of GMA as soon as possible by exhausting all possible legal means.
The soldiers incarcerated in Tanay and the Magdalos, especially Trillanes must be freed, GMA and Esperon must come to their senses that making these soldiers martyrs will only put them in the worst possible position.
klingon:
Mukhang may lusot si Esperon based on the Manual.
The provision I quoted is from law (the US code). I presume/hope the provision is the same in our Articles of War.
The Manual on Courts-Martial in the US is an xecutive issuance, drafted by the Defense Dept and signed by the President – analogous, I suppose, to our Rules of the NLRC or BIR Rules.
If the same is true for our Manual on Courts-Martial (a mere EO), then it is subordinate to the Articles of War. The provision, then, under 834 (if same as ours) prevails over the Manual on Courts-Martial.
If Esperon did not base his PTA on the recommendation of the investigating panel, then there is no probable cause, because Esperon did not make any new investigations. The PTA is culled from thin air.
Still looking for online sources to CA 408, para hindi iffy ang aking mga posts.
parasabayan:
Thanks for the info. I forgot about Col. Querubin’s habeas.
Kaya lang, habeas lang – petition for release. What about a dismissal with prejudice because his right to a speedy trial was violated? Yan ang isunod sana.
Kailangan parang Pacquiao – no let up, until justice is done for the men of honor.
“What about a dismissal with prejudice because his right to a speedy trial was violated? ” — atty36252
I’ve been hankering about that from the time Querubin was arrested by Esperon’s men…Right to speedy trial is part and parcel of military law too.
Bakit may lusot? There is no counterpart provision in the Articles of War. The Manual on Courts Martial is EO 178 ca.19 December 1938. The requirements of the service of charges and the prescriptive form of the charge sheets are all imposition of the Manual and are not found in the Articles of War. The Manual has been upheld in several instances by the Supreme Court.
There are no online sources for CA 408 as amended. My friends who litigate courts martial have been repeatedly asked for soft copies of this, and there are none-existing, unless they themselves or the JAGo lawyers encode it.
CA 408 is not the same as the US Counterpart. It is much shorter, only 119 articles. The rest of the provisions in the procedure of courts martial are taken up by the Manual.
Early on, I suggested that the Articles of War should be posted in camps in full view or could be consulted by the rank and file.
It is imperative that these should be posted. In the UK no later than 20, 25 years ago, one of duties of the commander of a vessel before leaving port was to read the Articles of War.
They now have done away with the practice but all ships of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy are “equipped” with Articles of War posted on board. In other services, e.g., British Army and Royal Air Force training centers, these are posted too.
Perhaps, this should be instituted in military barracks or hqs in the Philippines too if only to serve as reminder for all those topside and bottom of what the military is all about — duties and responsibilities.
Apparently, may lusot, because the Manual says:
“No appointing authority shall direct the trial of any charge by general court martial until he has considered the advice of his staff judge advocate…”
Parang directory lang, the appointing authority must consider the advice of his staff judge advocate.
I, agree with you however, that the apparent excuse is only an EO, and cannot take precedence over the law, that says:
“The convening authority may not refer a specification under a charge to a general court-martial for trial unless he has been advised in writing by the staff judge advocate…”
Problem is, is 834 of the US code same as the provisions of the Articles of War? I can only presume it is the same, because our Justice Kapunan said we practically copied it verbatim, except for some minor amendments later by way of PDs of Macoy.
The US code is not that long either, only 146 Articles. It is the US Manual on Courts-Martial that is long, all of 907 pages.
Sorry. Did not notice your post that there is no Philippine counterpart to 834 of the US code.
AdeBrux, the Manual on Courts Martial, which is published along with the Articles of War are made available to any of the servicemen who wish to have a copy. It used to be given away for free. Im not sure if they still do.
Thanks, Klingon for the info. Maybe the Articles should be posted as in poster format in all hqs?
i remember gino’s line w/c he borrowed from pareng forrest gump,and i qoute ”life is like a box of chocolates,you will never know what you gonna get.” indeed the one who is trying really very hard pinning them down does not know what he got himself into.he underestimated the fact that these men were made from sterner stuff.trained to withstand the worst from the worst of the situation.and when honor is at stake,surely its payback time.this whole charade will be over soon.as always,the taste of success is sweet….
Boxy, let’s pray for them and our country. I’m afraid things are coming to a head.
yes,maam ellen.i really do believe in the power of prayer. just read about the bombing in congress,im afraid things will escalate into greater heights.i just dont know what will be the effect of the incident to our province.lets just keep our fingers crossed na lang gid.
Atty pwede bang simultaneous yung habeas at dinmissal with prejudice. Col Querubin have a set of brilliant lawyers. I am pretty sure he is well defended.
When you said may lusot si Esperon, you mean he really does not need to sign the PTA? Does it also mean that asspweron could simply overturn the results of the PTI? If that is the kind of reasoning asspweron has, then anyone can just alter the results of any investigation to tailor to ones liking. Hindi yata tama yun?
Puwedeng simultaneous, puwede ring singly filed. There is a benefit in filing singly, dahil kahit dismissed (hope not) yung habeas, puwede pa ring mag-dismiss for speedy trial, dahil iba naman ang basis.
Habeas says, release dahil no authority ang court martial. Speedy trial says kahit may authority, dismissed, dahil binagalan mo, maybe because you don’t have the evidence and just want to incarcerate. The philosophy is, if you have the evidence, laban agad. That way, if the person is guilty, puwes, kulong; if not, he gets to clear his name immediately. No sword of damocles hangs over a man of honor’s name.
I said apparently may lusot si Esperon, because the provision quoted by klingon says that the convening authority is only required to consider the advice of the judge advocate:
“No appointing authority shall direct the trial of any charge by general court martial until he has considered the advice of his staff judge advocate…”
The US code (this seems to be an amendment of 1950, if it did not exist in the 1928 version) is more stringent, because it is prohibitive:
“The convening authority may not refer a specification under a charge to a general court-martial for trial unless he has been advised in writing by the staff judge advocate…”
So kung walang written advice by the judge advocate, Esperon cannot amend.
Still, we can take a different tack. If the amendment was made without the concurrence of the investigating panel, then there is no probable cause, because Esperon did not investigate; there is no basis for his amendment.
The analogy is the dismissal of the criminal charge against Gringo. Even if Glo is the superior of the Si Raulo, she could not just say, basta, i-pa-dismiss mo.
They had to go through that song and dance number of Gringo asking for a “reinvestigation”, and Si Raulo finding that there is no probable cause to prosecute Gringo. There must be findings by the investigating authority, otherwise, it would seem to be a whimsical decision of the superior. Ganyan nga ang perception with respect to Esperon.
In the case of Gringo, pilipit man, they can say they went through the motions. There is an ostensible adherence to procedure, although luto pa rin. Parang Saturnina Galman case.
“In the case of Gringo, pilipit man, they can say they went through the motions. There is an ostensible adherence to procedure, although luto pa rin.” — atty36252
In other words, this is Gloria’s rule of law.
“If the amendment was made without the concurrence of the investigating panel, then there is no probable cause, because Esperon did not investigate; ”
As I’ve always said, it’s the height of stupidity for the convening authority to ask his own investigators to investigate and when the investigators say, “Nada!”, i.e., no sufficient evidence to warrant filing of criminal charges then why the heck should that authority insist on going against the findings of his own investigators. Mga sira ulo!
Thanks Atty. I hope the incarcerated officers’ families and friends are reading Ellen’s blog so they will have some ideas to pass on to their lawyers.
Anna, I think the one who prepared the PTI is standing by his words on his findings. I would suppose he never concurred with the amendment. This is what I gathered. The PTA was only released 8 months into the trial, unsigned at that. So who knows who really prepared it?
parasabayan, yes we are always monitoring the blogs. We are listening to all of you everyday. We also discuss the issues with our lawyers and we study the Rules of Court for a Court Martial, as well as the Articles of War. I have copies of those aside from studying again my books at law school. You are all right, there are too many irregular actions or even illegal deeds done by the chief of staff and his men, so that sometimes we decide not to file a petition because we know that the whole thing is a sham. Natatawa na nga lang kami mismo sa kapalpakan nila including the recent hasty oath-taking of the Court Martial Panel. Rest assured we are listening to all the intellectual stimulations happening here. 🙂 In behalf of the families of the detained officers, we thank you for all the support you have given us. There will always be a Christmas for all of us, wherever it will be – in our homes or inside the prison walls of Camp Capinpin. Esperon can never dampen our spirits. 🙂
Good Invictus. We will be with you over the holidays. Miracles do happen all the time. I hope a miracle will happen to the “men of honor” this Christmas. Good always prevails over the bad. I know that whatever asspweron does, he will not be able to destroy the spirits of these men. More power to them and to those who are supporting them one way or the other. We are praying for all of you!
Esperon as he is an incompetent moron.He himself probably wouldn’t get it, but then again we’re not sure he can even read. He obviously can’t read the Constitution because he never seems to follow it. His command leadership have committed crimes, tortured citizens, kidnapped people off the streets, drugged them, sent them to secret prisons, and have spied on leftist and oppositions. If our people aren’t completely appalled, they haven’t been paying attention, who don’t seem to notice that their president is turning into a dictatorship and destroying the country.
Ellen: BTW
I have placed a special entry to the “We salute you Major Basilio Pooten” JAGS statement alongside the menu section ‘AFP & PNP’ which leads into the full statement posted on my blog.
parasabayan and invictus:
Forgot to add. The reason I would prefer arguing both the habeas issue and the speedy trial issue, is because the division seems to be a fair one. If the petitions are filed singly, you may get another division in the CA. Not all CA justices are impartial jurists; some are government hacks. I cannot separate the jurist from the hack, because the ones whose reputations I know of have all retired.
It should be easy for the lawyers to amend the petition and include the issue of denial of the right to speedy trial as another basis for release. But the issue of the right to speedy trial may get a dismissal with prejudice (cannot be refiled).
Getting a dismissal is not too difficult, considering the express Constitutional provision. It is the prayer to make it with prejudice that will require some arguing.
I’m sure the lawyers know about Zedner v US (just google it). But for those who want to read legal stuff, this is good reading. This is where an alleged ultra-conservative (Justice Samuel Alito) pens a decision upholding the rights of the accused. He actually outshines the liberals here.
Atty and Klington:
The Manual on Courts Martial says:
35. b. Reference to Staff Judge Advocate.– Subject to the provisions of this subsection, (35b) reference to a staff judge advocate will be made and his advice submitted in such manner and form as the convening authority may direct.
No appointing authority shall direct the trial of any charge by general court martial until he has considered the advice of his staff judge advocate based on all the information reltaing to the case, including any report made under subsection 35c (suspected insanity) which is reasonably available at the time trial is directed.
“The advice of the staff judge advocate shall include a written and signed recommendation of the action to be taken by the appointing authority. Such recommendation will accompany the charges if referred for trial.”
That is why the lawyers of the 28 accused are asking for a written or signed recommendation of the action to be taken by Esperon and that signed recommendation should be attached to the charge sheet.
Without the requisite approval from Esperon, the PTA drafted by Col Davila is a mere scrap of paper. Col Davila has no power and authority to reverse the findings of the PTI panel which had the proper authority to counduct the pre trial investigation on the charges against the 28 accused and which found no probable cause to hold them for trial or direct their continued detention.
The defect of the unsigned PTA was more apparent in the proceedings before the SGCM No 2 as it could not proceed without a valid charge sheet. Realizing the absence of the proper charges against the accused the panel was constrained to defer the October 5, 2007 proceedings until it could resolve the problem.
The Trial Judge Advocate Col Loy in justifying that the PTA was deemed approved by Esperon, mentioned that a Memorandum dated November 17, 2006 wherein it was stated by Esperon that on the basis of the PTIR and the PTA, he is recommending the formation of SGCM No 2 to try the accused.
The fact that Esperon made mention of the PTIR and the PTA as basis for recommending the formation of the SGCM No2, is in itself irregular if not anomalous. Esperon may have forgotten that the PTIR recommended the dismissal of charges while the unsigned PTA reversed the findings of the PTIR. We have here two completely contradicting reports such that it is illegal for the accused to be detained solely on the basis of an unapproved PTA.
The SGCM No2 was thus convened and the accused were held in detention despite a valid PTIR recommending the contrary.
Nowhere in the memorandum states the approval of the PTA and the rejection of the PTIR by Esperon. At the least, the document makes mention of the PTIR and PTA. If the TJA argues that this is the approval, does it mean that Esperon approved both the PTIR and the PTA? If so, a contradiction is plain as the PTIR dismissed the charges while the PTA directed trial. The result of this hiatus is clear; there is no valid charge sheet or indictment of the accused warranting their immediate release from detention for want of an indictment to hold them for trial.
It is a basic right of every citizen including officers of the AFP to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against them. Unless proper charges are made, the accused cannot be charged, convicted or incarcerated.
As stated in the 1991 case of Elepante vs Madayag (GR No. 93559):
This court as protector of the rights of the people, must stress the point that if the participation of petitioner in several coup attempts for which he is confined on orders of Adjutant General Jorge Agcaoili cannot be established and no charges can be filed against him or the existence of a prima facie case warranting trial before a military commission is wanting, it behooves respondent then Major General Rodolfo Biazon to release petitioner. Respondents must also be reminded that even if a military officer is arrested pursuant to Article 70 of then Articles of War, indefinite confinement is not sanctioned, as Article 71 thereof mandates that immediate steps must be taken to try the person accused or to dismiss the charge and release him. Any officer who is responsible for unnecessary delay in investigating or carrying the case to a final conclusion may even be punished as a court martial may direct.
Atty, what do you think?
Agreed army ranger. Those are solid arguments.
We, however, have to find the optimum remedy for the men of honor. A grant of the habeas corpus petition will only effect the release of these men. Esperon may ask for a reinvestigation by a “friendly” investigating panel and charge them again.
But if the men pray for a dismissal for violation of their right to a speedy trial, they can argue that it be with prejudice. Then there will no longer be any danger of a “reinvestigation” by an Esperon-friendly panel.
“Army Scout Ranger and Marine officers who walked out of their hearing before a military court last week could be held liable for “breach of discipline,” Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Monday. ”
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaakh!!!!!
esPWEron, bugok ka talaga!
kinakain mo ang sariling mong tae at iniinom ang sariling ihi!
mabango para sa iyo ang amoy ng iyong utot!
gunggong!