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Twitter300 rebel soldiers in 3 revolts covered
MANILA, Philippines — Backed by a supportive Congress, President Benigno Aquino III has granted amnesty to detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and more than 300 rebel officers and soldiers who took part in three military uprisings against his predecessor, now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Mr. Aquino Tuesday announced that he had signed Presidential Proclamation No. 50 and that Malacañang would await the concurrence of the Senate and the House of Representatives. With the concurrence of the two chambers, the proclamation “becomes a law,” he said. “The Department of National Defense will be processing the application for amnesty once we secure the concurrence of Congress.”
Those covered by the proclamation are the officers and soldiers who took part in the Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003, the standoff at the Marine headquarters in February 2006, and the takeover of the Manila Peninsula hotel on Nov. 29, 2007.
Amnesty will extinguish their criminal liability for acts committed in relation to the uprisings “without prejudice to [their] civil liability for injuries or damages caused to private persons.”
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the prosecutors handling the criminal cases against Trillanes et al. had been left in the dark about the grant of amnesty.
De Lima said at a news briefing that Mr. Aquino issued his amnesty proclamation barely two weeks before the scheduled promulgation of Trillanes’ mutiny case on Oct. 27 at the Makati City Regional Trial Court.
She said that while she was “informed” of discussions on Mr. Aquino’s plan to grant amnesty to the rebel officers and soldiers, “I’m not part of the decision-making [process].”
No regrets
Danilo Lim, a retired brigadier general and former commander of the Army Scout Rangers, said he did not regret rising up against the Arroyo administration and that “we will always be proud of what we did.”
“A soldier must be ready at all times to fight and defend his country, even if the oppressor is the government itself. A soldier who takes his sworn duties seriously shall fight all forms of oppression to protect and serve the nation,” Lim said in a statement to the media.
Ariel Querubin, a retired Marine colonel, expressed relief at the “closure” and said he was looking forward to a new career and receiving his military retirement benefits.
The two decorated ex-officers and losing senatorial candidates, who also took part in the bloody 1989 coup attempt against the administration of Mr. Aquino’s mother, then President Corazon Aquino, said they were grateful to her son for the grant of amnesty the second time around.
The members of Trillanes’ staff are thrilled that their detained leader would finally be able to dispense his senatorial duties three years after his election.
“We’re excited that he will join his fellow senators because he has long been looking forward to work with them in complete freedom,” said Trillanes’ chief of staff Rolando Averilla.
Only soldiers reinstated
At a press briefing, Mr. Aquino’s spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the grant of amnesty would restore the civil and political rights, including retirement and separation benefits, of the rebel officers and soldiers.
Lacierda said only the soldiers would be reinstated in military service, a position that took Lim and Querubin by surprise.
The two ex-officers said they had assumed that all the implicated officers and enlisted men would be reinstated, as in the case when they were first granted amnesty for their participation in the coup attempts against the first Aquino administration.
Explaining the grant of amnesty, Lacierda conceded it was “partly” because Trillanes was Mr. Aquino’s former colleague in the Senate.
But overall, he said, it was in keeping with the President’s policy of “seeking reconciliation on all fronts—from enemies of the state to rebel soldiers.”
He denied that the amnesty was granted by the President to spite Arroyo, saying: “This is really more toward the policy of this administration to pursue reconciliation without any regard of GMA.”
Asked whether the amnesty proclamation meant the President approved of soldiers taking up arms against the government, he replied in the negative.
Eduardo de Mesa, the President’s chief legal counsel, told reporters that Mr. Aquino could grant amnesty to the rebel officers and men even if the courts trying their coup d’etat cases had not yet convicted them.
Military consulted
Armed Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said the military brass was consulted before Mr. Aquino issued the amnesty proclamation.
Mabanta said the military, through Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, had recommended amnesty for the mutinous officers and soldiers but recommended reinstatement only for the enlisted personnel.
“The members of the Armed Forces will respect the decision of the Commander in Chief. This development is certainly welcome,” Mabanta said.
At the Department of Justice, De Lima said she respected the President’s decision not to consult her or state prosecutors on the matter because the issue was “basically and essentially a presidential prerogative.”
She said that since the mutinous acts allegedly committed by Trillanes et al. were carried out during the previous administration, it was natural for the new President to exercise his executive privilege in resolving “political offenses.”
Political offenses
“I think the premise of the proclamation was that the acts committed by those entitled or expected to avail themselves of the proclamation are essentially political offenses,” she said.
De Lima said she would meet with Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and others handling the criminal cases of Trillanes et al. in order “to know [their] sentiments.”
Defense lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. said the officers and men accused of participation in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny wanted the promulgation of the case against them to push through despite the President’s amnesty proclamation.
Francisco said that Makati Judge Oscar Pimentel had set the promulgation of the coup d’etat case against Trillanes et al. on Oct. 28, and that the accused were confident of acquittal.
But with the amnesty proclamation, Francisco said it was now up to the judge to decide whether or not to proceed with the promulgation.
Still on trial
According to military records, 15 officers and five enlisted personnel are still undergoing court-martial for the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, the 2006 Marine standoff and the 2007 Peninsula takeover.
Of the 101 officers and 185 enlisted personnel initially charged for the Oakwood mutiny, only six officers are still being tried—Trillanes, Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, 1Lt. Warren Lee Dagupon, 2ndLt. Alquin Canson, 2ndLt. Edwin Duetao and 2ndLt. Junibert Tubo.
Charges against 11 officers were dropped for lack of evidence while 84 pleaded guilty and were discharged from the service, according to Maj. Enrico Ileto, deputy chief of the AFP public information office.
Of the 185 soldiers originally charged, 184 pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and were reinstated after demotion, forfeiture of pay and detention. One remains absent without leave.
Only nine of the 28 officers implicated in the 2006 Marine standoff continue to stand trial—Lim, Querubin and retired Ma. Gen. Renato Miranda and Scout Rangers Maj. Jason Aquino and Captains James Sababan, Montano Almodovar, Joey Fontiveros, Isagani Criste and Dante Langkit.
Langkit resigned when he ran—and lost—in the May 10 elections.
Only Lim and Faeldon continue to be tried by court-martial out of the 12 officers who took part in the Peninsula takeover.
Five enlisted men also remain charged but their names were not immediately available.
Esperon’s prayers
Former AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon, a staunch Arroyo supporter, appeared doubtful that the grant of amnesty could stamp out military adventurism for good.
It was Esperon who had ordered the arrest and court-martial of Lim, Querubin and others for the 2006 Marine standoff that was deemed a coup attempt.
“I respect the decision of the President. I believe in pardon. But the questions that other people ask of me, and this is my prayer, is that hopefully those officers and enlisted personnel will not commit the same acts in the future,” Esperon said when reached by phone for comment.
“I hope and pray that no group of officers and men will do the same in the false hope that they will be granted amnesty. That’s my first prayer, and I have a second prayer—that hopefully among those given amnesty no one will turn out to be a recidivist,” he said, alluding to Lim and Querubin. With reports from Tina G. Santos and Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
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