NO BAIL FOR JULY MUTINEERS. The Makati Regional Trial Court has found probable cause for the filing of coup d'etat charges against the leaders of a military mutiny on July 27 and has denied them bail, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Thursday.
Judge Romeo Barza approved a "no bail" recommendation of government lawyers against Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV and 30 other junior military officers after finding probable cause against them, Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Agnes Devanadera said.
Barza set the arraignment of the accused on Dec. 15, said Devanadera, head of the DILG legal team tasked to assist the justice department in prosecuting the mutineers. She said Barza also granted the motion to dismiss the charges against 299 other soldiers earlier charged in connection with the mutiny, in which the soldiers laid siege on the Oakwood apartment building in the Makati business district. The mutineers surrendered after about 22 hours without a shot being fired.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 5 December 2003
REFORMS RESULTING FROM OAKWOOD MUTINY ON THE WAY. The Department of Defense has created a 25-man body that would implement nationwide reforms recommended by American and Filipino military experts to boost the Armed Forces of the Philippines' capability to respond to security threats.
The committee, to be headed by former AFP deputy chief of staff Lieutenant General Ernesto Carolina, will come up with an action plan and monitor the implementation of a landmark reform program in the AFP as recommended by the Joint Defense Assessment (JDA) group to the defense department. The creation of the defense group comes nearly four months after more than 300 disgruntled junior officers and military men incensed by alleged corruption in the military launched a rebellion against the government, more commonly called the Oakwood mutiny after the soldiers laid siege on the Oakwood hotel in Makati City last July 27 and demanded the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the JDA was an offshoot of the state visit of Ms Macapagal to the US in May when President George W. Bush promised a comprehensive review of Philippine security requirements to determine how the US could best help its ally in its fight against terrorism. Both leaders later endorsed the recommendations of the JDA report during Bush's visit to Manila on Oct. 18. The Philippine military is considered among the weakest and most corrupt in the Asian region.
Military experts from the US Pacific Command and the AFP recently completed the study and submitted a 10-point recommendation to be implemented in the next five years. The military reforms call for the implementation of a strategy-driven multi-defense planning system; the development of accurate baseline data on critical functional areas; development of effective personnel management; increase in the defense budget and the improvement of management controls, and the execution of its modernization program.
The JDA report also called on the military to create a professional acquisition workforce, policies and organizations, and to improve operational readiness rates of its key systems, operational and training capacity, capability to conduct civil-military operations, and operational level expertise by exploiting subject matter experts.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 17 November 2003
MUTINEERS’ RELEASE HAILED; LEADERS’ PROSECUTION URGED. Senator Biazon said Sunday Malacanang's order releasing 133 military officers and men who had been "misled" into joining the July 27 Oakwood mutiny would "serve the cause of justice," even as he urged the government to focus on the prosecution of those behind the illegal action.
"Their release would also address the alleged betrayal of the agreement forged between Ambassador (Roy) Cimatu and leaders of the Magdalo group who were held responsible for the July 27 incident," Biazon said. The agreement to surrender had included the release of the mutinous soldiers who had merely followed orders.
Biazon said many of the detainees were enlisted personnel who had been merely following their superiors' orders. He said some of them told him they were held after their names appeared on diskettes seized by the authorities at the Oakwood Hotel in Makati City where the Magdalo group made its stand. He said the government should start prosecuting the leaders of the mutiny, noting these officers held "positions of command and responsibility over their subordinates." But the senator also urged relatives of the officers and men who may be found innocent to be patient as the authorities conclude their investigation. The President the other day ordered the release of 133 military officers and men found to have been "deceived and misled" into participating in the coup try.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 3 November 2003
CORPUS: NO MORE COUP TRIES UNTIL END OF GMA’S TERM. A repeat of the failed July 27 military uprising is unlikely before the end of President Arroyo’s term next year as mutinous elements have been isolated, former military intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus said here Saturday.
Corpus, who has taken the helm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil Relations Group (AFP-CRG), said military coup plotters will have difficulty orchestrating a power grab because the masterminds of the foiled July 27 mutiny "were all accounted for." "They will have a hard time" plotting a new coup, Corpus said, referring to speculations over the possibility of other efforts to topple the Arroyo administration. Coup plotters, he said, would have to start from scratch by recruiting new followers.
He said it takes a long time to hatch a coup plot. The failed mutiny, he said, was the result of much planning. Corpus also said he does not think any coup will be launched before June 30 next year, when the President will have served the remainder of her deposed predecessor’s term.
Source: Philippine Star, 13 October 2003
CORPUS: NEAR ZERO CHANCE FOR NEW MUTINY. The possibility of a fresh military uprising against President Arroyo is "near zero," a senior military official said yesterday as the government sought to assure a wary public.
Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, newly appointed chief of the military’s civil relations office, said there appeared to be no "justifiable reason" for a coup against Mrs. Arroyo, two months after she quelled a July military uprising without bloodshed. While acknowledging that "a very small percentage" of the 130,000-strong armed forces remained restive, Corpus said all the leaders of the July coup mutiny against Mrs. Arroyo had been taken into custody and posed no threat. Asked of the chances of a fresh uprising, he said: "Right now, near zero."
Phil. Star, 10/03/2003
55% IN SURVEY SAY JULY MUTINY WAS JUSTIFIED. The majority of Filipinos believe that the soldiers who staged a mutiny July 27 in the Makati business district were justified in doing so and that another coup attempt is likely, a survey by the poll firm Pulse Asia showed.
The survey of 1,200 people nationwide was conducted about a month after the mutiny, when 300 junior officers and enlisted men going by the name Magdalo took over the Oakwood Premier serviced-apartments building to protest alleged corruption in the military and the government. The survey also showed that 52 percent of the respondents believed that restive soldiers still posed a big threat to the government.
Malacanang says the mutiny, which ended peacefully after hours of negotiation between the Magdalo leaders and government representatives, had started as an attempt at a coup aimed at installing a military junta to replace President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. According to Professor Felipe Miranda of Pulse Asia, six to seven of 10 survey respondents said the grievances expressed by the Magdalo group were "with basis and justifiable." The grievances included lack of housing for soldiers and alleged sale by military officials of arms and ammunition to rebel groups and the bandit group Abu Sayyaf.
"The majority opinion, 55 percent, said that these grievances constituted a sufficient reason for soldiers to rebel against the government," Miranda said at a media forum. Miranda said the political capital that President Macapagal-Arroyo earned as the public closed ranks behind her over the mutiny had mostly evaporated. He added that the survey also showed that 36 percent agreed with the President’s handling of the mutiny, and 31 percent disagreed.
On Wednesday a separate Pulse Asia survey showed that support for Ms Macapagal-Arroyo had slumped to its lowest level. The dismal rating constitutes a possible blow to any plans she has of standing for election in May 2004.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 26 September 2003
OMBUDSMAN REBUFFS HONASAN ON JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROBE. Senator Gregorio Honasan lost his bid Tuesday for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the coup d'etat charge filed against him for his alleged involvement in a coup attempt on July 27.
Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo told the Supreme Court that the Department of Justice had the full authority and jurisdiction to conduct the preliminary investigation on the charge. In his 27-page comment to Honasan's petition for transfer of the investigation to the Ombudsman, Marcelo said the alleged acts of Honasan in leading the July 27 mutiny could not be considered part of his duties as legislator.
Honasan had asked the Supreme Court to stop the Department of Justice from continuing its investigation on the coup charge against him, saying the Ombudsman had proper jurisdiction over his case. Honasan claimed that the criminal acts he allegedly committed were done "in relation to his office" and therefore the Ombudsman and not the justice department should investigate him.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 1 October 2003 Inquirer, 10/01/2003
MUTINEER INSISTS HE CAN PROVE CORRUPTION RAPS. Detained Navy Lt. (sg) Antonio Trillanes IV, the spokesman for the rogue junior officers who led the military mutiny on July 27, expressed his willingness to disclose the names of corrupt military officials and provide evidence for their prosecution.
Trillanes said he is willing to help the Ombudsman in the investigation to uncover irregularities in the Department of National Defense (DND) and provide leads for the arrest of those involved in anomalies. The Navy official also expressed his "bewilderment" over government’s failure to investigate erring public officials. Trillanes made the offer as he tried to fight the graft charges filed against him before the Ombudsman over his supposed ownership of eight vehicles despite his P20,000 monthly salary.
Source: Philippine Star, 22 September 2003
MUTINEERS’ RIGHTS NOT VIOLATED, COURT RULES. The Constitutional rights of the Magdalo group leaders are not being violated by the restrictions imposed on their detention at Camp Aguinaldo.
The Court of Appeals, in dismissing a petition for habeas corpus filed by lawyers of the July 27 mutineers, said the conditions of their detention at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters did not violate their rights to privacy, counsel and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.
The petitioners were Navy Lieutenants (s.g.) Antonio Trillanes IV and James Layug, Marine Captains Gary Alejano and Nicanor Faeldon, and Army Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo. The six were the admitted leaders of the attempted coup at the high-end Oakwood Premier apartment-hotel in Makati City. "Simply put, petitioners are not inquiring into the legality of their detention by virtue of the issued commitment orders. They do not assail the legality of their arrest,'' the court said.
The rebel officers' lawyers led by Homobono Adaza had filed a petition for habeas corpus before the Supreme Court. Included in the petition was a complaint that the young officers' rights were being violated in detention. "While we do not undermine the fundamental right to counsel, we beg to stress that lawful authorities may implement safeguards in the form of reasonable rules and regulations, not only to ensure the safety of the detainees, but more importantly to prevent their escape,'' the CA said.
Although the court rejected their petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the officers' lawyers welcomed the CA's decision, saying it restored their constitutional rights while in detention. The mutiny leaders have been charged with coup d'etat and also face court-martial.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 19 September 2003 Inquirer, 09/19/2003
MACAPAGAL CONFIDENT COUP ATTEMPTS WILL STOP. Coup plots are now consigned to the rumor mill, a confident President Macapagal-Arroyo declared Thursday after meeting with more than 200 retired military officers in Malacanang.
The President made the statement even as an unsigned letter from a group of soldiers warning her of her downfall was being circulated in military camps. At the meeting, Ms Macapagal said the rumors were being fanned by the media. "Despite the intrigues in the media, I never believed that any general worth his salt would ever support an extra-constitutional bid for power," she told four associations including that of retired generals and flag officers, which pledged their loyalty to the President and the Constitution.
The support of the retired generals extended to beleaguered First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. They asked the Senate to stop its investigation of the Jose Pidal bank accounts, which opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson claims were used by Arroyo to launder his wife's campaign contributions. As the officers of the four organizations took turns reading their manifestos of support for her at the Heroes Hall, the President was all smiles.
Leaders of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (Agfo), which had the biggest contingent of 103 members, were reportedly conferring with the anti-administration Council on Philippine Affairs (Copa). At the meeting with the President, Agfo president retired Brigadier General Ernesto Gidaya rejected the call of Copa's Pastor "Boy" Saycon and William Esposo for the President's resignation.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 19 September 2003
EX-GENERALS DENY PLOT VS GOVERNMENT. While denying that some of their members were involved in destabilization attempts, retired military generals said Tuesday that President Macapagal-Arroyo should address the charges of widespread official corruption as it was one of the major causes of political and economic instability.
Retired Brigadier General Ernesto Gidaya, president of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO), denied reports that some of AGFO's members were fomenting a new rebellion but said the government must face the problem of graft head-on. Gidaya made the statement amid persistent reports that some retired generals identified with former President Ramos have been meeting to allegedly hatch a coup plot in the wake of the Jose Pidal scandal involving First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.
Also on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia, the Armed Forces vice chief of staff, said that destabilization threats from the military have been greatly reduced since the days immediately preceding and following the July 27 failed coup. Gidaya agreed with Garcia that "too much politics" was destabilizing. Gidaya said opposition allegations of corruption against the First Couple, was "part of [the] destabilization." He said he did not believe the Jose Pidal exposé‚ would lead to a people power uprising. But he admitted that some Agfo members were part of groups critical of the Macapagal administration like the Council for Philippine Affairs. He reiterated that Agfo itself did not support destabilization attempts against the government.
Antonio Villanueva, a retired general who is a regular at the Agfo clubhouse at Camp Aguinaldo, is one of those known to be active in Copa. Villanueva said that he personally did not believe that destabilization moves against the President would be good for the country. Even Ms Macapagal's resignation would be detrimental to political and economic stability, he said.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 17 September 2003
DOJ TAKES JURISDICTION OF COUP D’ETAT CHARGES VS GRINGO. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has given opposition Sen. Gregorio Honasan and several others until Sept. 23 to submit counter-affidavits and dispute their alleged involvement in the July 27 failed mutiny, effectively assuming jurisdiction over the investigation.
Some of the mutinous officers and soldiers have claimed that Honasan was one of the masterminds of the mutiny. The Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has submitted the affidavits of four more mutineers who claimed that Honasan participated in a "blood compact" that signified his solidarity with the mutineers. Lt. Ferdinand Gloria and Ensign Juan Celebrado, of the Philippine Navy, and enlisted soldiers Pedrito Dulanas Jr. and Herbert Dang-awan claimed Honasan instigated the mutiny.
Honasan, a former military rebel leader, attended their meetings in May and June, and discussed the country’s problems, the four said. However, they did not join the takeover of Oakwood Premier, a posh residential condominium in the heart of Makati City’s business district because they did not believe in effecting political change through violence, they added.
Honasan went into hiding after authorities linked him to the mutiny. He surfaced on Aug. 27 to contest the charges against him. Honasan said the Office of the Ombudsman, which investigates public officials, should head the probe. He vowed to fight the rebellion raps against him all the way up to the Supreme Court, and accused the government of having a "double standard" in dealing with the political opposition.
Source: Philippine Star, 17 September 2003
‘ANOTHER COUP POSSIBLE IF SOLDIERS’ GRIEVANCES ARE IGNORED’. Another coup attempt is a possibility if the government fails to immediately address the issues and grievances aired by rebel soldiers who mounted the failed July 27 mutiny.
This was the admission made by Ambassador Roy Cimatu, the chief government negotiator during the mutiny, in his post-negotiation report to President Arroyo. A copy of Cimatu’s report, dated July 28, was submitted before the fact-finding Feliciano Commission, which was tasked with looking into the root causes of the rebellion. Cimatu’s report adds legitimacy to the claims made by the Magdalo mutineers that they had acted out their grievances when they occupied the posh Oakwood Premier Ayala Center in Makati City’s central business district and booby trapped the condotel and the adjacent Glorietta shopping complex.
Since the peaceful resolution of the 22-hour standoff at the Oakwood, the government has hurled several accusations against the rebel soldiers. During the Feliciano Commission hearings, several testimonies referred to allegations that the Magdalo soldiers’ mutiny was masterminded by Sen. Gregorio Honasan and that their grievances were merely being used as a cover for the real agenda of toppling the Arroyo administration.
Source: Philippine Star, 15 September 2003
TRILLANES ANSWERS GRAFT RAPS AT OMBUDSMAN. Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday filed his counter-affidavit against graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City, radio dzBB reported.
Military personnel escorted Trillanes, who was accompanied by his lawyer Argee Guevarra, to the Ombudsman. Trillanes, the alleged leader of the aborted July 27 military uprising, was quoted as saying in his affidavit that the charges the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed against him last August 15 were "without basis and fabricated." The Navy lieutenant was referring to the CIDG's accusation that he failed to file his statements of assets and liabilities for 2000 and 2001.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 12 September 2003
PRESIDENT REACHES OUT, THANKS LOYAL COMMANDERS. Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday hosted lunch at Camp Aguinaldo for more than 100 military company commanders, thanking them for their continued loyalty to the chain of command.
The President, who is temporarily acting as her own defense secretary, feted the 151 company commanders from the Army, Navy, and Air Force at the start of a two-day refresher seminar on the military grievance mechanism. Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Narciso Abaya said Ms Macapagal encouraged the officers "to be very candid'' about their problems and solutions during the seminar "so we will not have these incidents where grievances cannot be aired."
The President has also been hosting a series of dinners for several classes from the Philippine Military Academy in the wake of the July 27 failed coup. Some officials have blamed the failure of the military "grievance mechanism,'' among others, for the failed coup. Abaya said he called the commanders to a seminar to discuss "all sorts of things," including "the problems they are encountering, ways to improve them, how much they are getting in terms of operational support and how much they're spending.'' The commanders did not raise any issue with the President. According to Abaya, in the course of the seminar, they would be asked to fill out a questionnaire and indicate their topics of preference for the next day.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 12 September 2003
OAKWOOD VIDEO TAPES SHOW MUTINEERS ENTERED EASILY. Rebel Magdalo soldiers strode into the Oakwood hotel-apartments casually and unopposed by private guards, security video tapes shown the Feliciano Commission revealed Tuesday.
The Oakwood management furnished the commission with six VHS tapes that covered nine areas of the building and contained recordings from 1 a.m. of July 27 to 2 a.m. of July 28. One footage showed a lobby guard in barong Tagalog opening the glass door for the first group of five to seven soldiers who entered the building at 1:47 a.m. on July 27. These first arrivals -- in fatigue uniforms and carrying high-power firearms -- had shown up at the basement parking area at around 1:42 a.m. The footage failed to show the vehicles they used.
At the open steel gate leading to the elevator that would take them up to the lobby, they encountered two Oakwood guards, one male and one female. The guards, seen talking into handheld radios, seemed calm and made no attempt to stop the soldiers or close the gate. First soldier to enter the frame looked like Scout Ranger Captain Milo Maestrecampo, one of the five core leaders of the Magdalo group. This soldier approached the male guard and appeared to be speaking to him, but without making eye contact. He then gestured for his men to proceed.
During the viewing, commission chief counsel Mario Ongkiko noted that the Oakwood personnel "stood their ground" by remaining calm even as more rebel soldiers poured in. The audio-less video footages also provided a top view of the press conference held by the Magdalo soldiers in the afternoon of July 27. Likewise shown were media men freely roaming the premises, and rebel soldiers moving shopping bags and carton boxes presumably containing food.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 3 September 2003
REYES RESIGNATION FAILS TO DEFUSE RESTIVENESS IN MILITARY. The resignation of Angelo Reyes as secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) has apparently failed to stop military allies of the political opposition from scheming to hatch another power grab.
Sources in the intelligence community revealed yesterday that a number of middle and senior grade military and police officers are being "closely monitored" because of their links with opposition Senators Gringo Honasan and Panfilo Lacson. "These military and police officers have already sold their souls a long time ago to Senators Honasan and Lacson," a ranking military official said.
However, those military officers associated with the political opposition do not have numbers to mount another coup. "(But) we’re just sad that these officers who have already discarded their oath of office are (still) parading around proclaiming they are pro-government," one of the sources lamented. Among those on the watch list are a military general, two police chief superintendents (brigadier general), several Army majors, police superintendents (lieutenant colonel) and senior superintendents (colonel). According to sources, the military general was monitored to have forged an alliance with a civilian group working on the series of exposes of Lacson against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. The two police chief superintendents are also known Lacson protégés during his term as director of the defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC).
There were unconfirmed reports that another coup plot is being hatched by a number of middle-grade police and military officers. Several officials from the military, however, claimed the prevailing political situation is being exaggerated.
Source: Philippine Star, 3 September 2003
ARROYO WARNS OF NEW PLOT. One month after foiling a military mutiny, President Arroyo called on Filipinos yesterday to remain vigilant and help her frustrate what she described as attempts to bring down the government.
Mrs. Arroyo blamed these efforts, as well as "speculators" who she did not name, for the fall of the local currency.
After quashing a short-lived mutiny by a small band of military officers July 27, the government has been hit by the resignation of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and corruption allegations against the President’s husband Jose Miguel Arroyo. Elements of the opposition last week launched a drive to demand Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation and force a snap presidential election. In transcripts of a weekend radio address released by Malacanang, Mrs. Arroyo said the government is gathering evidence against certain individuals who she said were "plotting to bring down the government." "But I assure you that I will not allow them to succeed. These conspirators are desperate because the nation’s institutions are standing firm. I am warning them again to stop violating the Constitution," the President said. Mrs. Arroyo urged Filipinos to "remain vigilant and help defeat these viruses of society."
Also yesterday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople urged foreign governments and investors to ignore the political tumult that followed the July 27 mutiny, insisting the President maintains a firm grip on power. The political squabbling – which has knocked down both the local currency and share prices – should be seen in the context of parties jockeying for position ahead of the May 10, 2004, presidential election, Ople wrote in his newspaper column. Ople chastised the press for failing to put the situation in its proper context, which has resulted in investment flight. He said the Manila envoy of a key Philippine ally told him last week that "all foreign embassies in the Philippines had the problem of putting the events as reported by local media in their proper context."
The Philippine peso has in the past week been at its most volatile since the second EDSA revolt in January 2001, hovering at the 55 to the dollar level. In order to help defuse the political tension, a summit of leaders from both the administration and opposition has been scheduled early this week, though naysayers doubt that it could achieve anything.
The resignation of Defense Secretary Reyes may be seen as merely symptomatic of the unrest afflicting the armed forces, analysts said. The source even feared that things might come to a head by October or November, with different commands nationwide either maintaining allegiance to the administration or opting to rise against it. This, observers said, is the reason why the next choice for defense secretary is the most crucial decision the President will make and could well determine if she can ride out the reminder of her term.
Source: Philippine Star, 1 September 2003