Military – Page 48 – ellen tordesillas

Yano belittles Esperon’s tale

Published by Ellen on October 3, 2007

Esperon insists on coup plot report; Yano dismisses it as “very insignificant”.

Below are the two reports:

By Joel Guinto
10/03/07

Army Chief Lieutenant General Alexander Yano has played down as “very insignificant” and “raw” reports of a new plot to topple government, and added that there was no need for worry.

Yano expressed confidence that the “very few” soldiers who were the targets of the alleged recruitment would resist the overtures of anti-government forces as they remained loyal to the chain of command.

Esperon, destabilizer

Published by Ellen on October 2, 2007

Update: Sen. Francis Pangilinan says Esperon’s denial of medical attention to Gen. Miranda is a violation of his right to life. Calls on Esperon to allow Gen. Miranda to undergo general check up. For full statement, scroll further down.

In his book, “Long Walk to Freedom,” South Africa’s former president, Nelson Mandela, said: “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.”

Mandela, one of the greatest human beings, was speaking about his jailors in their struggle against apartheid but the description could perfectly apply to AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon.

For how can one explain Esperon’s odious remark about the request of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda for a general or executive checkup?

A destabilizer not entitled to executive checkup: Esperon

Published by Ellen on October 1, 2007

by Victor Reyes

Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, former Marines commandant who is detained for allegedly leading a failed power grab last year, is not entitled to an executive checkup because he is a destabilizer, AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said yesterday.

“If they are asking for an executive check, what I know is that an executive checkup is a privilege for those who are not resorting to violence,” Esperon said.

“For example, if you are not doing something illegal, you can have an executive checkup. But if you are a destabilizer, you are detained, why then are you asking for an executive checkup? We (military leadership) are not the ones who are at fault why you are being detained,” Esperon also said.

Playing God

Published by Ellen on September 30, 2007

Never have I seen Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim as upset as in last Friday’s hearing of the special general court martial trying the 28 officers accused of planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo’s bogus presidency in February 2006.

In the past 10 months of tedious and frustrating trial, Lim has always been a picture of calm demeanor, never complaining even as younger officers would sometimes express annoyance openly over what they perceive is the blatant railroading by the court created by AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon.

But last Friday, Gen. Lim stood up when the panel was asking the whereabouts of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda who was absent. An officer, apparently in charge of the detainees, said that Miranda was in bed when he checked him before the hearing.

A few good men

Published by Ellen on September 29, 2007

The families of detained officers in Camp Capinpin, Tanay unveiled their own efforts to bring out the truth behind the incarceration of the officers whose sterling records put to shame that of their jailors.

“It’s all in Esperon’s mind” – Miranda et al

Published by Ellen on September 28, 2007

Photos of yesterday’s hearing in Camp Capinpin in Tanay. Captions below. Take note of the barbed wire that surrounds the court building. Akala mo Myanmar!

By Victor Reyes

Officers linked to last year’s failed power grab yesterday said the recent reports of attempts to destabilize the Arroyo government were concocted by the military leadership to justify the coup rumors they themselves floated.

In a statement, the officers said the revelation of Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. about the supposed plan is nothing but a psychological strategy to suppress what they said were the “voices of truth.”

Biazon barred from holding committee hearing in Trillanes’ cell

Published by Ellen on September 27, 2007

Update: Esperon thinks a Senate hearing on civil service is political

Custodians of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday prevented Sen. Rodolfo Biazon and some 34 other people from entering Trillanes’ detention cell inside the Marine headquarters to conduct a Senate hearing.

AFP tightens security on detainees as Esperon continues spinning coup tale

Published by Ellen on September 27, 2007

Note: Court martial hearing for the 28 officers involved in the alleged failed February 2006 coup resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Camp Capinpin, Tanay.

Old faces, new recruiters involved in new destab plot

by Victor Reyes

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Wednesday said the same people involved in last year’s failed power grab are among those recruiting officers and enlisted personnel for the latest plan to destabilize the Arroyo government.

Esperon said four active officers were also implicated by four fellow officers whom they tried to recruit. “We have the names of the four officers who made the approach. The four are under surveillance,” he said.

Court junks anew Trillanes bid to attend Senate sessions

Published by Ellen on September 21, 2007

Even as the Makati Regional Trial Court denied his petition to allowed Senate sessions, Sen. Antonuio Trillanes IV held the first organizational meeting of his commitee on civil service at his detention center in the Marine Brig at Fort Bonifacio with Sen. Alan Cayetano in attendance. Media was not allowed to cover it.

From ABS-CBN online:

The Makati City Regional Trial Court on Thursday dismissed anew a petition by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to be allowed to attend sessions in the Senate and to set up office and grant interviews in his Fort Bonifacio detention cell.

A budget for every destab rumor

Published by Ellen on September 21, 2007

From ABS-CBN Online:

Maria Flor “Pong” Querubin, wife of detained Marine Col. Ariel Querubin, said the announcement by AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon about a fresh coup plot against the administration is just another “desk intelligence report.”

“Gawa-gawa lang nila iyan. (That’s a fabrication) Every intelligence report has a corresponding intelligence operation. If there are intelligence operations there is a corresponding budget,” Querubin said in an interview with Anthony Taberna in ABS-CBN’s morning show, “Umaga, kay Ganda”.

Querubin’s husband is currently detained in a military detention facility in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. Her husband is being accused of leading the failed coup plot against Mrs. Arroyo in February 2006.

Category: Military