Kahanga-hanga itong si Capt. Nick Faeldon.
Kahit siya ay nakakulong, hindi nababawasan ang kanyang paniniwala sa sambayanang Pilipino at patuloy na umaasa na magising sa ating matagal ng pagkahimbing.
Isa si Faeldon sa mga sundalong Magdalo na sangkot sa tinatawag natin ngayon na Oakwood mutiny noong 2003 kung saan binulgar nila ang kurakutan at kapabayaan ng mga matataas na opisyal ng military.
Following story by Ashzel Hachero:
Courtroom sidelights: click here.
An Army officer accused of participating in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny is set to withdraw his not guilty plea to the coup d’état charge and plead to a lesser offense.
Speaking through his counsel Paulo Primavera, Lt. Lawrence San Juan yesterday told Judge Oscar Pimentel of Branch 148 of the Makati regional trial court that he is ready to enter into a plea bargaining agreement and plead guilty to the crime of conspiracy to commit coup d’état.
Conspiracy to commit coup d’état is punishable with six to 12 years imprisonment while coup d’etat carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Malaya’s story by Victor Reyes. Click here. For the second time in a month, the quarters of detained Army Maj. Jason Aquino in Camp Aguinaldo…
At least, it looks like we are not going to have another case of Mayuga Report.
Those watching closely the trial of the military officers being involved in the aborted plan to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo’s bogus presidency have been given hope that the panel led by Lt. Gen. Alexander B. Yano trying the case might yet be fair.
The hope comes from Yano’s decision last Tuesday to release the Pre-Trial Investigation Report prepared by a team from the Office of Judge Advocate General led by Col. Al Perreras dated Oct. 25, 2006. This is small victory considering that the prosecution had been wanting to shortcut the process and go ahead with the trial without even giving the respondents a copy of the basis of the accusations against them.
Esperon thinks he is above the law; that he is not obliged to follow it;that his prerogative is absolute.Who does he think he is, a king?
Following story by Malaya’s Victor Reyes:
Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. today told lawyers of the Army and Marine officers implicated in last year’s failed power grab to sue him before the courts for ordering their clients’ court martial.
Esperon issued the challenge as he confirmed that a pre-trial investigation panel recommended the dropping of the charge of violation of Article of War 67 (mutiny) for lack of evidence.
The panel recommended the trial of the officers for the lower offenses of violation of AW 96 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman) and AW 97 (conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline).
Kapag nagku-cover ako ng hearings ng mga opisyal na nasangkot sa naudlot na withdrawal of support kay Gloria Arroyo noong Pebrero 2006, lalong tumitibay ang aking paniniwala sa Pilipino.
Meron pang Pilipino na naninindigan at handang magtiis at magsakripisyo para sa kanilang panindigan. Nandiyan ang 28 na mga opisyal na nakakulong dahil sa naudlot na withdrawal of support sa pekeng presidente noong isang taon at ang 68 na mga sundalong Magdalo nagbulgar ng kurakutan at mga kabalbalan sa Armed Forces.
Sa 28 na opisyal na sangkot sa Feb. 2006 na aktibidad, dalawa sa kanilang ang nabigyan ng Medal of Valor, ang pinakamataas na medalya na binbigay sa isang sundalo dahil sa pinakitang katapangan sa pagdepensa ng siguridad ng bayan. Sila ay sina Col. Ariel Querubin at Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon.
This Esperon is perverse. He subjected Capt. Dante Langkit to severe pressure by confining him to solitary confinement for 10 months. Now the young officer has apologized for his involvement in the Feb. 2006 and is asking for permission to be permitted to campaign because he is running under the Genuine Opposition for a congressional seat. He says he has forgiven Langkit. If that’s a source of satisfaction for Esperon, he is perverse. Click here for ABS-CBN story.
Update on Langkit’s letter to Esperon. Click here.
Detained Capt. Dante Langkit is contemplating running for the lone congressional seat in his home province of Kalinga.
He wrote AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon today asking permission to campaign.
Langkit is implicated in the alleged Feb. 2006 coup plot against Gloria Arroyo. He went AWOL sometime in January 2006 and arrested three months after.
Until two weeks ago, he was held in solitary confinement and pressured to turn witness for the government. <
I’m pleasantly surprised to see the website of Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon (www.-pilipino.org.ph), one of the Magdalo soldiers currently detained at Fort Bonifacio, updated.
I suppose someone is doing it for him because they are not allowed internet connections in their detention quarters.
Faeldon’s website was set up immediately after he escaped on Dec. 14, 2005. It became a phenomenon in the Philippine blogging community because just a few weeks after it started, it crashed due to the heavy volume of visitors. Even after a lull since he was captured on Jan. 27, 2006, the site has recorded over a million visitors.
Such a simple act as transfer of detained officers and AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon had to do it in a deceitful manner.
The detained marine officers involved in the February 2006 aborted withdrawal of support had learned about the order to transfer to Tanay two weeks ago and they have come to terms with it. In fact, they have started packing Monday night. But when they were fetched for the hearing this morning, there was no military truck to transport their things. So they assumed the order was off.
In the middle of the hearing, they were informed that order for their immediate order was faxed to Cavite. They were not allowed to return anymore to Cavite even to get their things. Two of them,Col. Achilles Segumallian and Major Francisco Domingo Fernandez were given the task of getting all the detainees’ things from Cavite and Fort Bonifacio. Lt. Belinda Ferrer, the lone lady detainee, who was the aide of Gen. Miranda ,was allowed to pick up her own things from Fort Bonifacio.
Here’s Victor Reyes’ report in Malaya:
Eight Marine officers, including former commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, and an Army captain were detained yesterday in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, headquarters of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, after attending court martial proceedings at the camp.
Here’s Inquirer report on what happened in the courtmartial hearing of 28 officers involved in the alleged February 2006 coup plot.
Click here for the much-requested Pre-Trial Investigation Report.
A military court on Tuesday acceded to demands of 28 Army Scout Ranger and Marine officers facing mutiny charges that they be furnished copies of the pre-trial investigation (PTI) report, which was the basis used by the Armed Forces chief of staff to order them tried.