Although the 28 officers in detention in connection with the alleged plan to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006 were hoping that the junior officers would be home for Christmas, none of them were really surprised when the court martial decided to deny the motion of their lawyers to dismiss the mutiny case against them.
After two years of hearing “Denied, denied”, what’s another “denied”? They are in fact looking forward to the start of the trial on Dec. 16, with trial dates every Friday.
Vicente Verdadero, counsel for Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and 14 other Scout Ranger and Special Forces officers, challenged the court to “Bring it on.”
“Let’s proceed to trial, present your witnesses and prepare your evidences,” Verdadero said.
First in the list of prosecution witnesses is former AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon, who overruled the recommendation of the panel that investigated the incident to dismiss the charges of mutiny for lack of legal and factual basis.
Esperon proceeded to file charges of not only mutiny but also conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman, conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, and disrespect towards the president. The three minor charges were dropped when no arraignment was conducted after two years.
In denying the defense lawyers’ motion to dismiss the charges because the evidence submitted by the prosecution could not sustain the charge of mutiny, one of the justifications of the court was that they could only assess the merits of the evidence during the trial.
Verdadero said he can’t imagine what more can witnesses add to their affidavits, citing the case of 1Lt. Jerald Reyes, who affirmed his affidavit not once or twice but three times under the supervision of the Intelligence Service Group of the Philippine Army.
Verdadero said that for allowing himself to be used by the ISG against his fellow officers, he was given the job of “taking care of the dogs.” Reyes is now in the AFP’s K-9 group.
In his demurrer to dismiss the charges against his clients, Verdadero said that for an accused to be indicted for attempted mutiny, he must have committed a certain overt act, that the accused must have specific intent to commit mutiny, that the act amounted to more than mere preparation and that the act apparently tended to effect the commission of the offense of mutiny.
“With the above definition of attempted mutiny as the yardstick, the evidence of the prosecution could not sustain the charge of attempted mutiny. There is not a single overt act shown in the prosecution evidence which could be considered as constituting an attempt to commit mutiny.
“The exhibits or evidence of the prosecution talk of nothing but ideas, plans, and discussions among some of the accused but they did not mention or describe how any one of the accused did perform any act that would be an attempt to bring into fruition the alleged ideas, plans and discussions,” he said. Demurrers of other defense lawyers were also along the same line.
In denying the motion to dismiss, the court said it is “premature….and believes that the prosecution has enough evidence and that they must be heard.”
The denial of the motion to dismiss prompted Lt. Col. Achilles Segumalian to manifest in court that he was dismissing the services of his lawyers because he has lost faith in the military justice system. “Do your worst. I rest my case with God. Bahala na si Batman.”
Even before court announced its decision, Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, who appeared in court wearing a barong tagalog, his first court appearance after he retired from military service last Dec. 5, issued a statement saying, “This trial is indicative of much that is wrong with the present governance. It shows that discipline is demanded from – and more often than not, given by – those who do not wield power. So we pay our taxes, follow orders from our superiors, obey laws, submit to processes. In return, our officials steal from us, evade the law, lie blatantly, cheat openly and make us out for fools.”
Miranda further said, “When we are hurt or oppressed by such actions, no restitution is forthcoming. To them, this is justice and democracy.”
Despite the setback, Verdadero told the court: ” We have not lost faith that somehow through you God will hear us. We believe that in the end divine justice will prevail.”
Ikulong si Assperoni at pakawalan ang mga katipunerong sundalo! Wala silang kasalanan at silaý tapat sa kanilang sinumpaang tungkulin na ipagtatanggol lamang ang taong-bayan sa mga hayok sa kapangyarihan.
HOY GISING AFP man of valor and patriotic soldiers, huwag kayong magpakamatay sa Mindanao…ginagawa lang kayong busabos ng remiheng ito.
Iligtas nýo ang inyong mga kabaro na ikinulong ng dahil sa pagmamahal sa Inang Bayan at Saligang Batas.
Yes! Bring it on! And bring Gloria down!
Denied, denied, denied…cycle na yan to perpetuate puta mama Gloria’s stolen power. Let’s put together all our might to make GloriaAsspweron pay for their sins against the Tanay boys, the Magdalos, us all and most of all…against our beloved Pinas!
Bring it on, Gloria…pati na ang iyong cha-cha! Huh, init na init na ako!
This is water under the bridge already. We need ten easy lessons for the upcoming patriots so we wont get into this kind of court martial impasse again. The only nice thing here though is the pay while on vacation.
1. Review the principles of war or Mao Tse Tungs thoughts.
2. Dont bradcast your intentions to your superior anymore and the church. Use element of surprise. You may be few but you studied that even 2 guys from the special units can stop an advancing army. Look at those rebels bloated to hundreds according to the battalions who are cornered always.
3. Never point a gun unless you pull the trigger. Look at those happy triggers at the Penn.
4. Remember that no flower people would join you to a battlegame anymore other than at the internet.
5. Go back to the beginning and repeat these pieces of advise like the hail mary’s.
Simula pa noong panahon ni Cory, lahat ng kudeta ay ginagawa sa hotel. International exposure ba ang habol?
Di natin kailangan ‘yon. Wala silang pakialam sa atin.
Dapat Malacanan ang bombahin, o di kaya ang kongreso habang nag-SONA, para lahat sila sabay-sabay ng mapulbos.
Kung sakali mang si Esperon ay magwitness against these men milagro talagang tunay..he is such a coward …kaya walang ring mangyari at walang witness…paano ba siyang naging general milk? God rules with justice kaya bahala na sa kanya ang Panginoon…
gusto ata talagang mapahiya ng prosekusyon. e wala naman silang ihaharap na testigo o ebidensiya itutuloy pa nila sa trial.
ano bang agenda ni esperon dito?
Ellen,
Bakit wala na naman sa lugar ang mukha ng Ellenville? Bali-baligtad, at malabnaw ang kulay. Screen ko lang ba ang may deprensya?
Let us pray that these noble men retain their strength of resolve, keep alive the fire in their hearts, fueled by love of country, family, friends, and believers that they may yet turn this apparent darkest moments of their lives into the one of the brightest period of the Filipinos’ eternal search for freedom and democracy.
Let us be the first to greet them a “Merry Christmas” and a really “New year!” praying something new will really come after all this…
Off Topic: Some of you might know singer Didith Reyes. She just passed away.
In Athens, riots continue after the Police killed a young boy.
That’s Athens. In the Philippines, farmers, rallyists and civilians get killed by the Police but there’s no riot. What do the people of Athens have that Filipinos don’t have? What do the Thais have that the Filipinos don’t have?
Most filipinos lost their “mojo”, while waiting others to do the fight for them.
ginoray,
WALA…………!
This kangaroo court is just instructed to PROLOOOOONG the agony of the incarcerated. Asspweron and this panel know that the case is dead! Kung withdrawal ng support sa illegal president ang pinaguusapan, baka may kaso pa. Kahit na sabihin pa na ang lahat sa kanila ay nagplano na magmartsa, hindi naman natuloy ang martsa. Ano ngayon ang kaso? I am not even a lawyer but I know that mutiny is a crime against a higher “officer”, in this case si Senga, HINDI SI ILLEGAL PRESIDENT! So where is the crime there? Sinabi ni Senga na bumalik sila sa barracks at sinunod naman ng mga Tanay Boys ang order. Nasaan ang mutiny doon? Unless the asspweron, the illegal president and the kangaroo panel eh may sariling laws that the lawyers (both military and civilian) do not know. The illegal president is know to just make laws just as she pleases anyway or appoint justices who would look at the laws just as they are told to.
It is to the best interest of the Tanay Boys that the hearings are extended until the evil bitch is a “LAME DUCK” president so she can not put her fingers in all kitties! Hopefully, this Friday, tapos na itong hinayupak na iligal midget!
Nasaan ba si Atty? Any input on this?
The analysis that the cha-cha is not making it even among the tongressmen may be true. But these tongressmen are just too wily to admit it! They want the people to be on the streets so the evil bitch will be able to create chaos and declare martial law instead. I HOPE THAT A REAL REVOLUTION WILL ENSUE! SOBRA NA! TAMA NA!
Ingat lang tayong lahat! We have an evil regime that is worse than any we ever had!
BE: “What do the people of Athens have that the Filipino people don’t have?” “What do the Thais have that the Filipino people don’t have?” “Unity and love for country.”
Sarili ko muna and then my country seems to be the modus operandi. Ang napansin ko lang sa Athens..ang mga tao doon ay hindi maki America…Coke costs at least $2/can. Sa hotel who drinks Coke but tourists like us..ganoon din ang bottled water…iisa lang ata ang nakita ko na McDonald,and Burger King..wala akong nakita na Pizzaria..people don’t seem to patronize them…sobra ang mahal ng mga foreign items thus…the natives don’t buy them…in my almost a week stay…napurga ako sa lentil soup…but Greece is so rich in history..ancient history…that brought back to me memories of the Ancient Greek mythology that I read in my youth..Helen of Troy etc… and the traces of the history of many years even before Christ are still there. we visited ruins of places where St. Paul preached Corinth, Epheseus, etc…
Sana ang mga Tanay Boys ay makauwi na at maapiling na ng kanilan familia at mahal sa buhay not only for Christmas but for the rest of their lives. And in our prayers let us all be united…Hindi man kami makasama physically sa inyo sa rally na ito..in our prayers we will be with you..
iba talaga si jocjoc, siya ang sinasabing sinungaling ng mga senador pero siya pa etong magpa-pasko sa piling ng pamilya niya. etong mga sundalong walang kasalanan, walang linaw kelangan makakasama muli ang kanilang mga mahal sa buhay. anak ng..
Onli in da Pilipins, ginoray. May premyo ang mga sinungaling, magnanakaw at mandaraya, samantalang ang mga nagsasabi ng katotohanan ay pinarurusahan.
Rose, the Filipinos do love the country but no unity. That’s what’s lacking…unity.
Crab Mentality ang umiiral sa mga Pinoys…local man o imported!
Pinalaya si Big Joke out of Humanitarian reasons kuno….
pero ang mga Tanay boys HINDI …. kasi…hindi sila nagnakaw, hindi sila nagsinungaling, hindi sila nandaya noong election! Iyan ang black regime ni Evil Woman!
Sana bukas…ITULOY na ang pagpapalayas…D R A G …this EVIL out of Malakanyang!!!
Sa tingin kasi ni evil bitch si Big Joke eh human at ang tingin niya sa mga Tanay Boys ay inhuman. Tama siya dahil ang mga nasa Tanay Boys ang mga Super Heroes! Hindi ordinariong mga tao. Their time will come.
BE: you are right we do love our country..but sayang kasi we are not united..but this rally will be the uniting factor for many except ang Pang-gulo.
We all want to see a united opposition…a unite rally. But, I don’t think it’s possible at this time. As long as some members of the Civil Society, Black & White like Leah Navarro still attacking Erap and complaining about his pardon; as long as Cory’s group does not want to mix with some members of the Marcos loyalists, as long as the Catholic Church is divided into pro and anti Arroyo…unity is hard to achieve. What about Manny Pacquiao? Is he a uniting figure? Manny is like an opium to the people. People forget hunger for a while cheering for his victory. Then, back to poverty again…
ayaw ko nang magmura. nakakababa ng pagkatao, ng dignidad, ng pagiging isang makatao. pero putang inang gloria, bakit ganyan siya?
palagay ba niya sa sarili niya siya na ang diyos na tanging mayroong karapatang magpasya kung ano ang nararapat para sa mga sumasalungat at nagtatakip ng baho ng bulok niyang itinatago sa harap at likuran?
pasensiya na kayo, hindi na mauulit. pramis, ‘yan na ang huli kong pagmumura!
pero…., huh, ‘tang ina talaga!
sa analysis ni gma ay safe na naman siya kaya paalis na naman puntang qatar.
Magno:
Ako din ayoko na sanang magmura, at gusto ko nang magpakabait dahil lagpas na ako ng life begins at 40, pero hindi talaga mapigilan hangga’t nakaupo pa iyong magnanakaw. Pero talagang iniiwasan ko nang magsabi ng PIN. Pakimura na lang. Lutungan mo pa, ha?
Nakikisama sa rally sa Manila. Bilisan nang patalsikin iyong sinungaling na pandak pa, ay, magnanakaw pala!
Any explanation why the Evil Bitch keeps traveling these days?
She travels twice or thrice in a month’s time.
We’re inviting all Filipinos in Japan to join us in a series of protest rallies we are organizing against the ChaCha because we do not like Gloria Dorobo to stay in power, and continue the tradition that now everyone knows to be a Macapalgal original, the institution of “lagay” as when she checks loyalty by ordering her deputies to distribute envelopes filled with money from the national treasury, taxpayers’ money and loans from foreign governments like what her father apparently did, and Filipinos of my generation and more to come “will never be able to pay.”
Those words in fact are not mine but those of a former history professor of mine who told us of the sins of the Macapagal government that made Marcos president.
Travel abroad ni Gloria Dorobo, BE, is to get funding kasi mukhang said na ang kaban. Kulang yata iyong panlagay sa mga tongressmen at tongressmen na pinaupo nila sa Tongress. Urong-sulong ngayon ang mga ganid na kinatawan, no longer ng bayan kundi kinatawan ni Gloria Dorobo sa Tongress. Saklap di ba?
sana kapag lumipad papuntang qatar ang bansot na babae ay maduling ang piloto ng eropleyn na sinasakyan maglanding sa iraq o sa afghanistan at doo’y mahosteyds at ma-reyp ang bruhang sinungaling!
pero ang inaalala ko lang ay baka mag-endyoy pa ang hitad dahil sawa na sa kargada ni fatso na parang bote………………..ng whiteflower!
baka sumigaw pa siya nang pagkalakas lakas na……SA WAKAS!!!!!