by Victor Reyes
The Armed Forces has deployed additional troops to Metro Manila to pre-empt possible attempts to grab power during protest rallies scheduled for Monday.
A composite battalion arrived at the headquarters of the AFP National Capital Region Command (NCRcom) in Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday from nearby provinces, Maj. Gen. Fernando Mesa, NCRcom chief, said yesterday.
Sa gitna ng pagsubok, hindi nakakalimutan ng Pilipino ang tumawa.
Noong Martes, ang court martial hearing ng 28 na opisyal na sangkot raw sa withdrawal of support kay Gloria Arroyo noong February 2006 sa pangunguna ni Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda at Brig. Gen. Danny Lim ay medyo tensyunado dahil alam ng lahat na may order si AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon na i-arraign o isakdal na sila ng pormal ngayong linggo.
Magdalawang taon na kasi at kung hindi pa sila maisakdal sa Martes, Feb. 26, i-dismis na ang isang akusasyon, ang “Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and a Gentleman” na ang parusa ay dismissal sa serbisyo.
Take note of the yellow steel bars that confine the accused officers to a certain area of the courtroom.
As they mark next week two years in detention, the 28 officers facing trial for allegedly planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006, issued this statement on Truth.
In a statement that undermines the independence of the court martial trying the case,AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon has made public statements that “they will be arraigned.” Court martial hearing resumes tomorrow.
It is often said that “the truth will set you free.” But this would be understood in the philosophical and moral context, because the truth, in many cases will send a person to prison. Mr. Lozada does not appear to be a saint, but the truth may have set him “free,” as perhaps, it was a means for him to attain peace with his own God and to reconcile himself with his concept of what is just and good. However, for Mrs. Arroyo, some members of her family, and their cohorts, including Mr. Esperon, the truth will send them to prison.
It is clear to those who have closely followed the court martial of 28 officers allegedly involved in the February 2006 alleged withdrawal of support from Gloria Arroyo that the panel headed by Maj. Gen. Jogy Fojas is following the prosecution’s script that Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and his fellow accused officers be arraigned, by hook or by crook, before Feb. 26, 2008.
That’s because if the accused are not arraigned by Tuesday next week, two years from the commission of the alleged offense, the charge of “Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and Gentleman” (violation of Articles of War 96) would prescribe and the case would be automatically dropped.
The remaining major charge would be mutiny which was recommended to be dismissed by the team from the Judge Advocate Office the investigated the February 26 incident “for lack of factual and legal bases.”
This is the message from Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and 26 other officers (Brig. Gen. Danny Lim is detained in Camp Crame together with Magdalo officers) in detention, now at ISAFP in Camp Aguinaldo, for the February 2006 alleged plan to witndraw support from Gloria Arroyo:
We express our support for truth and justice. As members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who have sworn to defend the Constitution and protect the Filipino people, we refuse to be cowed into silence and submission by a leadership anchored on thievery and deceit.
Officers face new raps for resisting transfer
by Victor Reyes
Military officers accused of attempting to overthrow government two years ago were transferred yesterday to the Intelligence Service of the AFP in Camp Aguinaldo from the detention facility in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.
The transfer of 24 of the 28 accused was ordered by AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon to facilitate court martial proceedings which had been held in Camp Capinpin since December 2005. The military announced about two weeks ago that the proceedings will be transferred to Camp Aguinaldo.
A commotion erupted in Camp Capinpin as the accused were being prepared for transfer, according to Ma. Flor Querubin, wife of accused Col. Ariel Querubin.
The following statement was issued by lawyers of officers detained in Camp Capinpin,Tanay,Rizal implicated in the alleged February 2006 plan to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo. The 28 detained officers include Maj.Gen.Renato Miranda, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim (detained in Camp Crame with Sen. Antonio Trillanes Iv and other Magdalo officers), Col. Ariel Querubin, Col. Custodio Parcon :
Another suspicious order concerning the Tanay detainees led by Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, has been issued and is danger of being implemented to the detriment of the said detainees.
Such is yet another oppressive act committed against the same men who have submitted themselves to the legal processes of a military establishment that seems intent on depriving them of their rights.At the last hearing, both the defense counsels and the prosecution were directed by the court martial panel to make proposals (defense counsels) and counter-proposals (prosecution) on ways to efficiently conduct the proceedings. The meeting between prosecution and defense was conducted yesterday in Camp Aguinaldo. The proposals were as follows:
Straight from Esperon’s mouth: aside from eliminating the New People’s Army, he wants the trial for the 28 officers he accused of mutiny for allegedly planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006 finished.
Esperon said this in an interview at ANC. Esperon said that the officers should be punished for what they did.
This is precisely what is wrong with the special general court martial no. 2 trying the case of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and 26 other officers for the February 2006 allegations. This is what the officers have been complaining about: it’s a kangaroo court. And Esperon’s interview at ANC confirmed it.
Sa mga reporter na gustong sumali sa dalawang demanda na isinampa noong isang araw para maprotektahan ang malayang pamamahayag, maari pa kayong sumali. Pwede pang ihabol ang inyong pangalan.
Dalawa ang isinampang kaso noong Lunes. Isa sa Supreme Court at isa sa Makati Regional Trial Court. Magkakaibang mga petitioners pero pareho ang pakay: pangangalagaan ang press freedom na nakasaad sa Constitution.
Isa lang ang pwedeng salian. Hindi pwedeng pumirma sa dalawa kung hindi mababale wala ang kaso dahil sa forum shopping.
Update:PNP admits video can’t pin down PLDY union head
PLDT unionist denies helping Faeldon escape
The PNP has revised its script that a female reporter helped Faeldon escape by giving him a media ID. Now, they are raising a possibility that Faeldon may have posed as a PLDT lineman after they noticed a man in a lineman’s uniform in the Manila Peninsula last Nov. 29.
ABS-CBN story: