Post by E-Q on May 13, 2008 17:35:52 GMT 8
By Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
President Arroyo has approved a recommendation to pardon nine military officers who had earlier sought forgiveness from her and the Filipino people after their conviction for staging the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
In her speech at the turnover of command from Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who retired yesterday, to Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano, the President said that destabilization moves do not have the support of the people.
She said the pardon would be her “last act as commander-in-chief” of Esperon, who recommended pardoning the nine “Magdalo” officers who pleaded guilty to coup charges at the Makati City Regional Trial Court after five years of detention and trial.
The former officers, Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo, Alvin Ebreo, Laurence Louis Somera, Albert Baloloy and John Andres; 1Lts. Florentino Somera and Cleo Dongga and 2Lt. Kristoffer Bryan Yasay, were stripped of their ranks and barred from reinstatement in the military.
“As my last act as commander-in-chief of Armed Forces chief of staff Jun Esperon, before I stood up, as we were sitting down, while Alex (Yano) was still beginning his job as the new Armed Forces chief of staff, my last approval of General Esperon’s recommendations is to approve his recommendation on the Magdalo soldiers,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the pardon should soften the stance of Magdalo hardliners, including detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
Ermita said the document pardoning the nine former officers were sent to the President’s office last Friday.
Mrs. Arroyo said where there are “rogue” members of the Armed Forces involved in adventurism or human rights violations, Esperon has substantiated his “commitment to let the wheels of military justice roll smoothly.”
She said the former military chief has shown that no one is above the law, even as he supported moves to pardon some Magdalo officers who have shown “remorse and utmost desire for rehabilitation.”
The President said “the nation wants peace, order and stability, not more political shenanigans” as she reiterated that 99 percent of military personnel are “good, upstanding and loyal patriots fighting to protect our country everyday.”
In his speech, Esperon said officers and enlisted personnel have already ”made a strong stand against military adventurism.”
“More than ever, it is clear to our soldiers that military adventurism is an obsession that exacts a heavy toll – a heavy toll on their careers, on their families, and most of all, on the country,” he said.
Reaching out
Speaker Prospero Nograles and several lawmakers lauded the executive clemency.
“Their decision to plead guilty and accept responsibility for their action should serve as an example to those who are still in the state of denial. I hope that like true soldiers, their promise of reform and cooperation will be realized following this unselfish act of the President for the sake of national unity and reconciliation,” the House leader said.
“That (pardon) goes to show the effort of PGMA to reach out and unite all sectors of our society, especially at this time when we are having a global crisis,” La Union Rep. Thomas Dumpit Jr. said.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., another administration lawmaker, said the convicted rebel soldiers were qualified.
“We have to apply equality and justice to ordinary people,” he said.
Pardoned former President Joseph Estrada said the mutineers should be returned to their respective positions.
“They should not have been convicted because they only fought for a cause. They should be returned to their duties and their ranks because they are men of principle,” Estrada said.
Gambala and Maestrecampo were meted life sentences last April 8 for leading the Oakwood mutiny, while the seven other officers were sentenced to six to 12 years in prison as accomplices. They were sentenced after they changed their plea from not guilty to guilty.
There were reports that Esperon was behind the change of heart of Gambala and his group, as most of them served under him during his stint as Army combat commander in Mindanao.
Esperon, however, has denied this, saying that Gambala and company realized the folly of their actions and were gentleman enough to face the consequences of their acts.
Gambala and Maestrecampo were among the six key leaders of about 300 junior military officers and enlisted men who marched and occupied the posh Oakwood hotel in Makati in 2003.
In that short-lived standoff, the Magdalo group that also included then Navy lieutenant senior grade Trillanes, demanded the resignation of the top military and police leaderships and of Mrs. Arroyo for alleged widespread corruption in the government.
Still revocable
The pardon given by President Arroyo to the nine Magdalo officers can still be revoked, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday.
Gonzalez told reporters that while he agreed with the President in giving executive clemency to the Magdalo officers on the ground that giving clemency is a presidential privilege and prerogative, he said any criminal act which the pardoned officers would commit would result in the revocation of the pardon.
“We can always take it back (pardon) as it is only conditional and not absolute. They cannot commit a crime again,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez advised the pardoned Magdalo officers to work hard and be useful citizens and cautioned them against openly saying anything libelous or seditious against the government.
“They can invoke their right to freedom of speech as long it is not libelous and seditious,” he said.
‘Personal guard dogs’
Fugitive Magdalo Group leader Capt. Nicanor Faeldon accused President Arroyo yesterday of making guard dogs out of military generals like Esperon, who has retired from the service.
In a handwritten statement coursed through his lawyer Trixie Angeles, the Oakwood mutineer, who also joined the November 2007 Peninsula hotel siege, said Malacañang “corrupted a once worthy officer.”
“Today, the last of your Garci generals retires from the military. Keep him close for he is rare among us in uniform: an officer willing to prostitute his own institution just to keep you, a fake president, in power,” Faeldon, in a message to Mrs. Arroyo, said.
“Even if he has officially retired from service, you have corrupted a once worthy officer into a personal guard dog. He has persecuted those who chose to serve the people instead of you, and promised to punish those who dare believe that country and people should come first,” he said.
“You and your lap dogs have tried to dismiss us by describing us as ‘misguided’ officers with messianic complexes, while at the same time accusing us of being guided by self-interest. But the years have proven us right: seven years into your presidency, you perfected lying into an art and forced us to live with your lies. Worse, you have corrupted institutions and those who serve and head these institutions,” he added.
Faeldon, one of the core leaders of the Magdalo Group charged with coup d’ etat before the Makati City regional trial court (RTC), escaped military custody after participating in last year’s Peninsula Manila incident that again challenged the Arroyo administration.
His lawyer says she does not know of her client’s whereabouts since he communicates with her through different channels and emissaries. - With Delon Porcalla, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mike Frialde, Michael Punongbayan, Christina Paguinto, Jose Miguel Reyes, Alexis Feliciano, Joyce Racoma, AP
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