Statement of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV:
I would like to express my profound gratitude to President Noynoy Aquino for yesterday’s amnesty proclamation. This act of magnanimity is also clear indication of his sincere desire to attain unity and peace for our country.
I thank, as well, all those who moved and prayed for this amnesty to happen.
To all of you, I am forever indebted.
President Aquino yesterday signed a proclamation granting amnesty to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and other soldiers who dared stand up to corruption and abuse of power by Gloria Arroyo, who was never elected to the position of power she held for nine years.
Trillanes remains in detention at Camp Crame and is prevented from serving fully the people who elected him to the Senate in 2007.
Some three hundred officers and enlisted men stand to benefit from the long-awaited proclamation. It covers those who were involved in the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny, the 2006 alleged plan to withdraw support from Arroyo following the “Hello Garci” expose, the Bonifacio Marine standoff in February 2006 and the Manila Peninsula siege in November 2007.
If the amnesty proclamation is approved by the Congress in the next few days, it would render moot and academic the promulgation on the coup d’etat case of Trillanes and other Magdalo officers by Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati Regional Trial Court scheduled on Oct. 28.
Two weeks ago, there was a resolution signed by 160 members of the House of Representatives urging Aquino to grant amnesty to the soldiers who rebelled against Arroyo. Seventeen senators also signed a resolution initiated by Sen. Vicente Sotto to grant the Trillanes and company amnesty.
It is expected that the same signatories would concur with the President’s amnesty proclamation.
An amnesty obliterates the crime and is much more desired than pardon that requires conviction before it is granted.
Aquino’s proclamation amnesty does not include return to service of the rebel soldiers unlike the amnesty granted by President Ramos to soldiers who staged several coup attempts against President Cory Aquino.
Sources said there are those in the military who oppose the return to service of some of the rebel officers.
Included among those who would benefit in the amnesty proclamation are 40 enlisted Scout Rangers who were imprisoned for almost two years without charges in Camp Capinpin and dishonorably discharged on Christmas day by the AFP Chief of Staff Alexander Yano.
If the amnesty is finally approved, it would be justice for these gallant soldiers. Delayed, but it’s still justice.
Did they say why?
Inggit siguro sila o takot…
It will take time, because there will be posturing in the House.
But if Oscar Pimentel renders a verdict of not guilty, then he will have pulled the rug from under Noy, as far as Trillanes is concerned. Ditto if the court-martial finds Danny Lim and General Miranda not guilty.
Now I will not put it above the Glue to fiscally persuade people to finesse Noy’s ace, just to twit him. Inisan lang naman ang pulitika sa atin, not public service. That is the same reason for the tit for tat of the Samar and Balay groups.
Would be sad if some of these solid, eligible, excellent officers can’t get back to active service.
I feel the same way for the young officers, Anna. Never mind the older ones coz I do not think they are even thinking of going back to the service. If these idealistic young officers are installed back to their positions, they will even be better officers coz they went through a lot already.
Agree PSB!
Basta, happy kami sa paglaya ng lahat ng nagmaktol sa kalabisan ni Gloria Arroyo, all of them bar none deserve justice.
Politics inside the military is still very strong. After prayers for the boys were answered today…I have to pray for Noynoy naman so that he may not totally believe everything that his military is ‘feeding’ him. With a very high trust rating despite the hostage drama, he can rely on the support of the kapinuyan, just don’t abandon them…
PSB, excellent points. Agree!
Sax, on the contrary, I think the house and the senate will immediately approve this proclamation. Sila nga ang may initiative nito eh. Only the pandak and her biik (who by the way put himself in congress by FORCE and bought his way into congress by being a “driver” kuno!
Ellen, you did a lot for these MEN. You made sure that they are not forgotten. For this, they owe you bigtime! I hope these men know that!
Chi, sadly, militics in RP will not die, not for a long wee while, not while you have a commander in chief baby sitting the national police chief.
Off topic, Ellen… I read that PAF has been given the go signal by the DND to purchase a 26-year oold C-130 for 40 million US dollars through Derco Aerospace Inc.
I wonder if this is true. If it is, let me tell you that it is one hell of money to pay for an aircraft that’s at the end of its sevice life. Unless of course, the said C-130 is one of those aircraft that was hardly used and was stockpiled in the Nevada dessert by the US govt. There were a few of them that were in pristine condition. However, if the said C-130 is a real second hand, i.e., used, then I must say, it is one of the most expensive C-130s in circulation. You could get one brand new for the same price or just a little over.
Anyway, just wondering if the article on the DND approved purchase deal I read was for real…
Gsoh! The picture depicts terribly young men!
By the way, Ellen, have they “caught” the informer who snitched on them and who released the pictures of their Magdalo compact event that eventually forced these young officers to hold the Oakwood “conference” in haste?
I think they have. They have forgiven him. The guy up to now passes himself on as Magdalo. The real Magdalo,of course, do not welcome him.
Chi,
Malamang yung mga corrupt na military ang malaki ang takot na mabalik sa serbisyo ang mga nagrebeldeng sundalo. Mabubuko kasi ang kanilang mga illegal and corrupt operations.
Oops, actually buko na. Ang takot nila eh yung hindi na nila magawa at maipagpatuloy ang kanilang mga illegal and corrupt operations. NO more happy days for them. To Trillanes et al… Go on fighting the Corrupt System!
Kahit na wala na sa serbisyo ang mga ito, nandyan pa rin ang kanilang pusong maglingkod sa bayan. Kung tutulungan nila si Trillianes in his remaining three years in the senate, marami pang magagawa si Trillianes sa tatlong taon.
Anna, I met a lot of these Magdalos (yung mga tunay) and they exude nationalism talaga. Sayang lang at hindi nila naituloy ang mga careers nila. Well, it is the country’s loss kung hindi na sila makakabalik sa serbisyo.
P.Noy needs more sunshine after the storm he created, i.e., from my perspective. Even “solid P.Noys” are angry and now their support is starting to melt.
As I said before here in this thread…
By putting to waste the preliminary “bloodied-sweated-and-teared-upon” efforts of the IIRC (despite their limitations then) and “exonerating” the guilty ones, P.Noy didn’t do justice to the nine lives spent (or wasted) in that Aug23 (Read: Uhg! 23) Incident…much more to millions of Filipinos put to shame by that very tragic experience as a result of hellish governmental mess.
“Natuto ba tayo?,” Ma’am Ellen asked before (the title of the blog post I cited above).
Definitely not, Mr. President…by your thoughts and actions, Mr. President…definitely not.
Shall I say, NOT YET…in optimistic deference to your managerial infancy???
—–
Incidentally, I must admit that I didn’t vote for you, P.Noy. But I am trying my very, very best to be objective about all things that are happening now because YOU ARE my president. A legitimate one I can consider after several years of being an “orphan.” …Time now to act like one.
Nice, baycas…very very nice post.
baycas,
marami pang mga unpopular decision na gagawin ang president… the declining of his popularity rating is inevitable… hindi naman popularity contest ang pagpapatakbo ng gobyerno… masuwerte na lang kapag sa kabila ng mga unpopular decision.. marami pa ding pangkaraniwang mamamayan ang magtitiwala sa kanya…
sensya… ilan beses ko ba nabanggit ang salitang “popular”? hehe
Kung gusto ni Pnoy na talagang lubusang tulungan ang mga Magdalo, employ them all to be his eyes and ears all over the country. They will do a very good job. Make them all SPIES to gather evidences against all the corrupt officials of the government. Sanay na ang mga ito na magikot sa buong Pilipinas. Mapapakinabangan ni Pnoy sila, GUARANTEED!
Perl,
Like you said, this is not about popularity (or unpopularity, for that matter). I think this is really about making the RIGHT decision, however unpopular it may be…it’s really about brewing and creating a storm.
What really comes to mind is Nilo’s ouster. P.Noy did a monumental decision to immediately fire him without due process and guess who he replaced him with? None other than the brother-in-law of his buddy, the Li’l President.
Then here comes a monumental disaster and his long-overdue decision was likewise influenced by what is perceived “selfish” motives (his and his peers). I believe P.Noy didn’t right the wrong again this time.
Coming from your logic and incorporating mine, when did a wrong decision become popular? In effect, I have to brace myself for several wrong (unpopular) decisions P.Noy will make in the coming years.
PSB, baka kung ano ang ma-spy ng mga ex-soldiers. Pero kung gusto nila, tambay sila sa Manila Pen. Meron daw isa dun laging lashing. 😛
baycas,
one thing i tell myself whenever i can’t do anyhting about something that really irritates me “deal with it!” and another favorite “what doesn’t kill us makes us strong.”
if we can only survive for a long, long, time, we can probably see the promised land…just survive…all things come to the man who waits… 🙂
i don’t see why they can’t be resinstated though? why?!
why?!why?!
notice the ones talking about “bad precedence” and “military advebturism” – Mikee Arroyo, will someone shut him up for good?!!!
baycas,
Ang tanong “wrong” ba talga? tama ka, may dapat managot…. pero hanggang saan.. at gaano kataas… hindi ako abugado o pulis pero para skin pinakamataas na talga dyan si Mayor Lim as head of Crisis committee. Sangayon ako na may lapses sina Versoza at Puno, isama pa natin si robredo kung gusto mo… pero kung hindi sila isama ng presidente sa mga kakasuhan dahil tingin ng presidente asset sila sa kanyang administrasyon at hindi dapat isakripisyo.. para sakin hindi yun nangangahulugan na mali… naging matalino lang ang presidente sa pagdesisyon…
alam mo, ang tawag ko dyan sa Aug23 incident ay malas… wala namang may may kagustuhan nyan eh kaya hindi dapat dyan lang umikot ang mundo natin at hindi dapat magsakripisyo ng mga matataas na opisyal ng gobyerno…
Dito naman Kay Sec De Lima… maganda ang kanyang ginawang imbestigasyon at naging matapat sya sa pagbigay ng recomendasyon… pero dapat din lang na igalang nya ang desisyon ng presidente…
Most of these so-called young guns will be corrupted once in politics; starting with Trillanes. It’s just a matter of time for his true colors to come to light. Yes, it’s appropriate to let him out and show the people what he’s made of as a junior senator.
What are they waiting for? Enlist these 300 or so men against the menace of jueteng and you will see what these guys, who are literally “dying to serve”, can do. This will be the true test of nationalism and a great chance to prove their detractors wrong, don’t you agree?
Most of the junior officers do not need to be reinstated. A number of them finished their masteral degrees from UP’s OpenU while in detention and are more qualified to serve in the private sector on matters dealing with security and people management.
They can setup their own training outfit to prepare mercenaries (US calls them security contractors) for Afghanistan and other conflict areas.
Noynoy can follow through by creating a GOCC for the purpose, he wouldn’t want 300 plus war-hardened men roaming the cities unemployed and desperate for jobs, would he?
Tongue,
Now that is a good business idea. They might have to skip Afghanistan though inasmuch as NATO (US included) has just streamlined its foreign/civilian consultants hiring policy but of course the Chinese are big time there so they might have to go the China road to Afghanistan.
That aside, the association of merchant marine navies are organising to set up their own naval security teams to escort their tankers through to combat Somalia pirates because natl government militaries are just stretched thin. The scheme is thoroughly legit. Well, you might say so were Blackwater mercenaries — the difference is that these private naval and security forces will be for defence and need not act as prison wardens a la Abu Ghraib 🙂
http://hillblogger3.blogspot.com/2010/09/naval-mercenaries-proposed-to-combat.html
They can setup their own training outfit to prepare mercenaries (US calls them security contractors) for Afghanistan and other conflict areas.
Noynoy can follow through by creating a GOCC for the purpose, he wouldn’t want 300 plus war-hardened men roaming the cities unemployed and desperate for jobs, would he?
———————————-
I agree. Actually after a long incarceration these guys need to make up financially, foreign mission, UN mission, etc, can help also.
Anna,
That is good news for my family. I have a cousin who’s ship is plying Somalia (container vessel) and the stories he told me on how they keep the pirates from coming on board the ship are nerve wracking.
It seems that the pirates can easily board the ship if it stops, so they don’t, when the pirate ship comes close enough and deploys their long ladders, the crew push off these ladders with makeshift poles and pray they don’t get shot in the process. Once or twice they get shot by grenade launchers but fortunately no got hurt then. They also made some home-made (in this case ship-made) molotov bombs. He says that if ships arm themselves there is a danger of escalation.
Lately, he says, the pirates don’t even board anymore, the boats just come to the side of the ship and the crew will just pass them over the bag full of money. So now they pay to avoid being boarded and kidnapped for ransom.
I pray they do something about this soon…
By letting the mutineers go unpunished penoy creates another dangerous precedent. He should have ensured due process. To have the courts find them innocent of charges. For the state to provide restitution to make up for their loss, if they are indeed not guilty. In this way, penoy could have promoted the rule of law which is so lacking in our country.
Sorry for the ‘patriotic’ band of soldiers. So many years of suffering for themselves and their family – to come up with nothing. I admire them for their patriotism and bravery, but they were suckered and used by unscrupulous jackasses. And unfortunately that continues with Penoy’s amnesty which is obviously a political move to save himself from his bungling and incompetency.
Penoys amnesty does not find those charged innocent. They are still mutineers in the eyes of many of their peers.
Penoy is not much different from Gloria Arroyo.
Jug,
Good news for me too; am all for this interantional private navy project.
I agree that with your cousin entirely, “if ships arm themselves there is a danger of escalation.” Besides, modern merchant navy personnel are not exactly trained to combat heavily armed pirates unlike the merchant navy of old, so the next best thing to do is to deploy separate vessels with professionally trained fighting components to do the job of fight off these pirates.
Best of luck to your cousin Jug. (Incidentally, pouring boiling oil on the “invaders” would be a better option than throwing molotov cocktail bombs?)
What are they waiting for? Enlist these 300 or so men against the menace of jueteng and you will see what these guys, who are literally “dying to serve”, can do. This will be the true test of nationalism and a great chance to prove their detractors wrong, don’t you agree?- Tongue
Agree! Subukan nila at nang magkakilanlan talaga!
Noynoy can follow through by creating a GOCC for the purpose, he wouldn’t want 300 plus war-hardened men roaming the cities unemployed and desperate for jobs, would he? – Tongue
Hahaha!!! The more he should create jobs for these guys, ayaw din lang nila ma-reinstate!
Jug, perhaps you can help some of your bros, don’t be shy…alam ko power boss ka sa inyo, hehehe! 🙂
Gani, ibalato mo na sa akin ang amnesty issue kahit malabo ang dividend mo, 🙂 Afterall, these soldiers lost so much in their many years in Gloria’s prison. Laws had been bastardized by Gloria and his bandits to ensure that these men stay in prison till kingdom come. Hindi dapat tumagal ng ganyan kung hindi intensyon na stretch ang (non)case via binutas-butas na batas, let’s give them a second chance, they deserve every bit of it.
Chi, not only that…their human rights have been completely violated these last so many years when govt continued to incarcerate them despite failure to try them and to exonerate them or convict them within a reasonable time frame from the time they were imprisoned.
We tend to think that human rights are reserved for the civilian component of society, well, bad news to those who only view human rights as the privilege of the left. Human rights are for everyone, whether one is a left-wing activist or a soldier.
Statement of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV:
I would like to express my profound gratitude to President Noynoy Aquino for yesterday’s amnesty proclamation. This act of magnanimity is also clear indication of his sincere desire to attain unity and peace for our country.
I thank, as well, all those who moved and prayed for this amnesty to happen.
To all of you, I am forever indebted.
Re #29 Most of the junior officers do not need to be reinstated. A number of them finished their masteral degrees from UP’s OpenU while in detention and are more qualified to serve in the private sector on matters dealing with security and people management.- Tongue
Lt. Armand Pontejos, is now teaching IT at the UP Open University, where he took his Master’s degree while in detention.
He has also a consultancy job on IT with a multinational firm.
As Gani pointed out, the amnesty will not only obliterate the crime, but it also obliterates the government’s liability for the unlawful detention.
Esperon should not object, he should rejoice. Hugas din ang atraso mo.
statement naman po ni joker arroyo..
this amnesty of pres aquino wiil be a bad precedent,
and demoralization to the military as well..
baliw yata itong si si joker arroyo, tama lang na joker ang name niya, diba mas bad precedent at demoralization iyong ginawa nila GMA et al, bukod sa kabikabilang corruption, pati ang dayaan sa election manatili lang siya sa posisyon ay ginawa niya gamit si garcillano at mga tiwaling congressman kasama na siya na ang trabaho sa senado ay pagtakpan si GMA at mga alipores niya sa lahat ng katiwalian nila.. ang kapal ng mukha me pa gimik pa ang walanghiya,” pag bad ka, lagot ka” ang tama pala na gimik ni lolo joker ay ” pag bad ka, kakampi kita” kapal mo joker..!! arroyo ka nga..!!
@ocayvalle – October 13, 2010 10:58 pm
Spot on!!!
#39. Absolutely, Anna!
#43. Two thumbs up, ocayvalle!
Re #38
Kailangan ang pagkakamali sa batas ay maituwid sa batas. Alam ng lahat ang hirap na dinanas ng magdalo group, pati na ng pamilya nila. Pero, look, kung dadaan sa tamang prosseso yan lalabas din ang mga kapalpakan ni Gloria, at pananagutan din ng mga tao niya ang hinaing ng magdalo.
Sa paraan ni penoy, kinalimutan na ang lahat ng pinamulan ng pag-alsa. Nawala na ang halaga ng sakripisyo ng magdalo. Maganda sana kung gamitin ang amnesty as a last resort, kung baga more injustice is done dahil halimbawa sa tagilid ang mesa at lasing ang hukom. Yun pa, savior ang labas ni penoy. Ang kaso niyan gingamit ni penoy ang amnesty na pampogi niya dahil sa pagsalba niya kay larry, curly and moe.
Having said all that. I’m glad that the soldiers involved will be back with their families soon.
Re #40
I suppose any regular person would bow down after years of beating. I thought Trillanes IV was more than a regular guy.
With all the support of the pinoys who even elected him senator, one would expect at least some kind of defiance – something to the effect that they, the magdalo, are guilty only of being patriots and of loving their country. Pero ito siya, sounding weak, as if he owes penoy a debt of gratitude for an amnesty. O baka naman, he really thinks that they are guilty and the amnesty is a real life saver.
Kailan ba darating ang bayani ng sambayanan. Meron ba diyan?
Pnoychio should let justice takes it course since GMA is out of power so I think the judiciary is on a level playing field on this particular matter, no need for him to interfere.
By unnecessarily interfering in this judicial process, it will make these soldiers vulnerable to UTANG NA LOOB!!
I smell a cover-up.
The following was not mentioned in the Ochoa-de Mesa report [“The Review of the Review” (TROTR)]:
After he almost finished reading the Ombudsman’s letter, the angry Rolando Mendoza said this to Orlando Yebra:
[“MENDOZA: Ito, sasampulan ko to sir, tabi, magsialis kayo… di ko kailangan yan sir, walang sinasabi yan …ikaw abogado ka… walang nilalaman yan”]
[TRANSLATION: “MENDOZA (addressing Yebra): This one, I’ll make an example of this one, step aside, go away…I don’t need that (letter), sir, that letter has nothing to say…you, you’re a lawyer…there’s nothing in that (letter)!”]
Mendoza, pissed off, asked the negotiators to leave and then fired a “warning” shot (Romeo Salvador even thought it was directed to him.). Clearly the hostage taker was now hostile and the hope of a peaceful resolution of the conflict was already diminished. Clearly, the negotiation stopped.
What did the officials think and do as their next course of action? Yebra said his last offer of “provisional reinstatement” for Mendoza was still on. Lim said it was a “waiting game.”
But what really transpired in the “kitchen” meeting of the higher-ups including Yebra? I ask this because at “quarter to 7” (as announced by Michael Rogas) Mendoza already saw SWAT teams deploying. That was also the time (or thereabouts) when Lim and Magtibay left for Emerald.
Isko Moreno also recounted: “By that time Mayor Lim has already left the PCP for Emerald Restaurant. Isko Moreno saw Special Forces with sniper rifles come out behind Manila Hotel and decided to leave believing the crisis has now become a police matter.” He was down-trodden during that time.
There are two things authorities can do: (a) Negotiate, or (b) Assault. Considering that the negotiation bogged down, were they already gearing up for an assault even before Rolando started his killing spree?
With the situation going out of hand, what was really the plan of Lim and Magtibay? “Waiting game” when all the while the negotiation was off and the danger to the hostages was already imminent??? Did they just concentrate their discussion on Gregorio Mendoza’s fate?
The TROTR didn’t tackle the issue but the issue on Gregorio Mendoza was highlighted in it. The latter is a ruse…a diversionary tactic to lead everyone astray.
[“Magtibay recalled Lim saying that Gregorio be ‘brought instead to Tondo,’ the police force’s euphemism for summary execution.”
– IIRC report]
—–
N.B., I’ve already stated the case of Rogas-and-Tulfo tandem as also a possible direct cause of the disaster in previous blog posts.
That’s fair.
Notice, we even call it “human rights” compared to “inhuman lefts”.
I don’t understand why it’s only the enlisted men who are being reinstated. All the officers, junior and senior, are not. The reason for allowing the enlisted soldiers is because they just followed order. Well, in the military chain of command, the junior officers also obey order from their superiors. If the same argument is applied, then only the highest officer during the mutiny should be held liable.
Now that the rebel soldiers were granted amnesty, what about those crooks and criminals like Singson and Esperon? They should replace the freed soldiers in jail.
I don’t get the reasoning that because Gloria allegedly broke the law we, as her opposition, are allowed to do the same. I’ve heard a similar reasoning from a child before.
If her opposition doesn’t abide by the law, who will? This is the heart of the problem. Filipinos are not politically mature. For them, tit for tat will do a quick trick.
What about Morong 43? They should also be set free.
Mabuhay magigiting na sundalo!
Sana naman mga tulad Gloria at Chavit naman ang ikulong!
Yung mga magiting na sundalo na tumindig at nanindigan nga pinarusahan, pano na ang mga tunay na kriminal?
down with gloria! habang nasa position pa, gamitin ang lahat para mapanagot ang unanong yan! anlng “allegedly, allegedly” ka dyan, ang dami na niyang nasirang buhay, dapat makulong din siya! kung si erap nga pinakulong niya sa sobrang nakakatawang kaso “jueteng?” susmayosep!
huwag tantanan si gloria, inisin, asarin, ipahiya natin hanggang mapilitang umalis sa pwesto ang mga yan!
sulong mga kapatid!!!
tama si andres! habulin si gloria! yari ka ngayon kay trillanes!
next si Lacson na naman! welcome back in advance sir!
jug,
gumawa ng express lane sa tuwid na daan para kay Sen. Ping Lacson… kung may haharang sa express lane… gumawa ng fly over! 🙂
INC has “Ang Tamang Daan”. Soriano has “Ang Dating Daan”. Pres. Noynoy has “Ang Matuwid na Daan”…now Lacson has “Express na Daan”.
In this world, “Duality or doable” exist.Pag-may-araw, ay may gabi..pag-may-unos, may-kagandahang araw na darating..kanan-kaliwa, May lalaki, may babae…sabi ni Erap,..weder-weder lang…ganyan ang mga nangyayari sa mundong ito,parang gulong na umi-ikot ( minsan-nasa-ibaba-minsan nasa itaas )..Ngayon, may “amnesty” kina, Senador Sonny Trillanes, noon para silang
hayup na trinato ng panahon ni Assperon-GMA ( sila naman, ngayon ang nasa ibaba )..si Senador Lacson, ganoon din ang nangyayari sa kanya..Lahat ay may hangganan ( kaya nga dapat lang ang laging pakumbaba, at may malawak na kaisipan, di makitid at nanghuhusga agad-agad, dahil ito ay ” finger pointing ” ( isang daliri vs. tatlo, naka-turo sa may katawan ). Sana naman, makamtan ni Sen. Trillanes, ang
kanyang ambisyon na mag-lingkod sa 11-milyon na bomoto sa kanya, bilang isang senador na sinikil ng GMA-admin, at magpaka-DIYOS, makaBAYAN, at makaTAo na siya,huwag ng rebelde, na walang bungang maganda. Gamitin nila ang talino, para sa ikabubuti ng pangkalahatang Pilipino, tulungan si Pnoy sa layuning Pagbabago, ilayo sa ” greed and corruption” ang bansa, at bigyan ng magandang landasin ang mga susunod na lahing Pilipino ( generations ). God Bless the purpose of Amnesty !..