Statement from AFP Spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres:
1.We recognize the wisdom of the court and respect its decision. The decision is neither a victory for the defense nor the prosecution. It was a triumph of the rules as upheld by the court;
2.It should be noted that the decision to prescribe some of the charges was reached not based on the merits of the case but on mere legal technicalities. Hence it will not in any way affect the conduct and outcome of a separate trial for a graver charge of mutiny;
3. We will consistently allow the due process of law to take its course. And with the current development, we are optimistic that we will soon finally get to know the truth surrounding the events that took place in February 2006.
Marine lieutenant Belinda Ferrer said she was praying all the while that Col. Marian Aleido was reading the decision on whether the minor charges against them have prescribed and therefore,dropped.
It was the longest ten minutes of her young military career, she said adding that her fellow detainees were in the same nervous state as she was. After two years of being on the receiving end of unfavorable decisions by the court, the only female detainee in the whole armed forces said she prepared herself for the worst.
