Soldiers ‘misled’ by mutineers ordered freed

President Arroyo ordered yesterday the release of Armed Forces officers and enlisted personnel found to have been "misled and deceived" or "intimidated and threatened" by the leaders of the July 27 mutiny.

The President also directed authorities to file the appropriate charges against the other military personnel involved in the mutiny during which disgruntled troops occupied the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center condominium in Makati City’s central business district.

"Upon recommendation of the Judge Advocate General (JAGO), the (Armed Forces) chief of staff approved the dropping of charges against them an hour ago. They may report for duty immediately," the President said.

"I want these officers and soldiers to be speedily exculpated and released," she added.

Mrs. Arroyo issued the directives to Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and AFP chief Gen. Narciso Abaya based on the results of the investigations conducted on some of the 321 officers and men facing a court martial for the mutiny.

Abaya told Palace reporters that the President’s directives apply to the 30 officers and men whose names appeared in a list stored in diskettes recovered from the mutineers who occupied Oakwood and called themselves the Magdalo group.

According to Abaya, while the 30 exonerated military personnel were among those charged with mutiny, they were not actually at Oakwood during the 22-hour standoff between the Magdalo and troops loyal to the government.

Of the first batch released upon the President’s orders, Abaya said, 28 were from the Philippine Navy and two were from the Army. They will be officially released from detention today, as soon as the paperwork has been completed.

Mrs. Arroyo disclosed the initial findings and report to her by the JAGO, which is handling the court-martial proceedings against the mutineers.

"As a start, I am ordering the immediate release of officers of the Philippine Navy who have submitted evidence and counter-affidavits proving that they were not involved in and, in fact, refused to join the power grab."

The President also warned the officers and enlisted personnel of the AFP to draw lessons from the failed mutiny by not being misled or deceived again by "wanton adventurism."

"In this light, the truth is finally coming out that many of the officers and soldiers implicated in the Oakwood incident were indeed misled and deceived; implicated or threatened by superior officers to join the plot; or were implicated but did not commit any covert acts contrary to law," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"We will sift through this evidence judiciously," she said. "Due process and justice will be served. The innocent... will be spared and the truth will triumph."

As for the Magdalo group leaders and the other military officers and who remain in detention, the President said the legal proceedings against them will continue.

"For the rest, I have ordered the authorities to file cases in court forthwith, so that the accused will have the opportunity to face the witnesses and the evidence," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"We will not engage in character assassination in the media," she said. "We will not speculate on evidence, but we will deliver this at once at the doorstep of judicial scrutiny.

Heroes, Not Heels

Speaking at the tribute to 13 "living heroes" who were conferred the Medal of Valor, the President said "it is the heroism and sacrifices of soldiers epitomized by our medalists of valor that drive our will to give the best we can to the protectors of our people."

The Medal of Valor is the highest military honor conferred for extraordinary gallantry and bravery in combat.

One of the heroes, Maj. Cilirito Sobejano, served as platoon leader of the 1st Scout Ranger regiment. Sobejano led men in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan in January 1995, during which he was mortally wounded in the right arm. Despite his wounds, Sobejano led his men in holding their ground against hostile fire for five hours. Seven of his men died in the clash.

Other recipients of the Medal of Valor who are still alive and on active duty are Col. Ariel Querubin, MSgt. Lucio Curig, Lt. Herbert Dilag, Maj. Custodio Parcon, T/Sgt. Romulado Rubi, Maj. Bartolome Bacarro, Col. Arturo Ortiz, Cpl. Oberto Salvador, MSgt. Francisco Granfil, Maj. Hilario Estrella and Capt. Bienvenido Fajimolin.

Among the benefits they are now entitled to are priority in promotion to the next rank, medical benefits, scholarships and tuition privileges for them and their dependents, and speedy processing of government loans up to P500,000.

The President said the government must reward "the best and the bravest" to the limit of government resources. "The 13 heroes we honor today demonstrate to the world that Filipinos are worth dying for."

Evidence Not Planted

Meanwhile, the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) reiterated its earlier statement that none of the evidence recovered from Oakwood was planted.

Testifying before the Feliciano Commission yesterday, ISAFP personnel led by their former chief, Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, said all the evidence was left behind by the mutineers.

The issue of evidence was raised after the members of the commission raised questions about the supposed carelessness of the rebel soldiers in leaving important and incriminating evidence at Oakwood.

Based on the ISAFP report, the recovered evidence included communications equipment, 10 floppy diskettes containing a detailed plan of a coup and other, similar documents.

Capt. Windell Rebong and Lt. Rex Sagge of the ISAFP said they recovered and brought the evidence out of Oakwood on the night of July 27 and the following day.

They said security personnel of the Ayala Center were the first people to enter Oakwood after the Magdalo group left the building at 10 p.m. and conducted a preliminary search of the premises.

These security personnel found the evidence first and reported the exact location of these items to the ISAFP, Rebong and Sagge said.

According to them, the involvement of the ISAFP in the recovery operations was facilitated by the chief executive officer of Oakwood, who invited them to inspect the building.

A total of eight rooms were inspected and the 10 diskettes and communications equipment were immediately recovered after the mutineers left, they added. The documents were recovered the following day.

The communications equipment was described by the ISAFP officers as new and mostly not issued by the AFP. These items were reported to have been recovered from the ground floor of the condotel, while the partially destroyed diskettes were found inside a waste bin inside the common toilet at the sixth floor lobby of the building.

Corpus said there had been a clear attempt by the rebel soldiers to destroy the diskettes by cracking their plastic casings, but the ISAFP was able to retrieve the contents of the diskettes, since the material inside the casings remained intact.

Also recovered from the Oakwood were various receipts, including one for P108,000 for the purchase of uniforms under the name of Lt.(sg) Manuel Cabuchan.

Illegal Sale Of Ammo

Meanwhile, two Philippine Marines who corroborated the complaints of the Magdalo group about the sale of ammunition by the AFP and the misuse of funds testified before the Feliciano Commission.

Capt. Danilo Luna said he witnessed the sale of two truckloads of ammunition to former Panamao, Jolo mayor Hadji Bagis on Dec. 28, 1997.

Luna said his company was ordered to provide light armor backup for the two trucks for transport to Marine headquarters in Talipao.

However, instead of heading to Talipao, he said, the trucks were directed to go to the vicinity of Bagis’ residence in Panamao. After 45 minutes, the ammunition was unloaded and they left the area.

Luna said he had become suspicious about the delivery after the order to proceed to Panamao instead of Talipao was issued and personally inspected the cargo trucks to determine their contents.

The other troops with Luna, he said, were griping about the wrongful transaction and claimed the ammunition would most likely be used against them in the future.

Luna said he reported the incident to 3rd Marine Brigade operations officer Maj. Lorenzo Dimaunahan and was told the operation was sanctioned by the Southern Command of the AFP, then headed by Gen. Romeo Padieros.

Capt. Ury Pesigan, who also testified before the commission, said a total of P67 million was used to finance six projects, which were either unfinished or defective and the funds used were depleted and unaccounted for.

Both officers claimed they were approached by their classmate at the Philippine Military Academy, Capt. Nick Faeldon, on two separate occasions to discuss ways to address corruption in the AFP.

They both identified Capt. Gary Alejano as among the officers present during the two meetings, in May and the third week of June.

Both Alejano and Faeldon were identified as involved in the mutiny.