Archive for March 1st, 2007
Esperon: ‘Accused Army officer to make good public servant’
MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. believes accused coup plotter Captain Dante Langkit, who plans to run for Congress in the May elections, will make a good public servant.
At the same time, Esperon said he has accepted Langkit’s apology for causing him “disappointments,” but stressed this will not affect court martial proceedings against the Scout Ranger officer who is facing mutiny charges with several other officers for an alleged coup attempt in February last year.
“Oh yes, he is good. He has a big heart for public service. That’s a soldier,” Esperon said, when asked if Langkit would make a good public servant.
“But I must repeat, I am not endorsing anybody here. I will just be acting on his letter…If he is qualified, why not? I can even wish him luck,” Esperon said.
Aside from apologizing to Esperon, Langkit also sought permission to leave detention to campaign in his native Kalinga province, where he will seek the lone congressional seat.
However, Esperon said Langkit might not be allowed to campaign in the field since his case is still pending before the special general court martial.
“Once the court martial has taken cognizance of his case, he may not be allowed to campaign…he is restricted. I can restrict him,” he said.
Esperon said he was “very humbled” by the apology of Langkit, his former operations officer when he was commanding general of the elite Army Special Operations Command.
“I…worked with him for just almost a year and he finds me to be so fatherly. Isn’t that something to be proud of? I’ll take it as a complement,” he said.
Asked if he considered Langkit a prodigal son, Esperon laughed before answering in a serious tone: “Mabait naman yang si Dante [Dante is really a good man]. He is a good officer, [a] very good combat officer.”
Esperon also said despite the apology Langkit has not offered to cooperate in the investigation of the alleged coup, although he would be “welcome” to do so.
He also explained why Langkit was not transferred from Fort Bonifacio to Camp Capinpin in Tanay town, Rizal province — where all the other accused officers are now being detained — because his co-accused might have been angered by the captain’s apology.
“It’s just that some people with the group might be, might have misinterpreted him, so we want to avoid any physical contacts for the meantime…The letter might be taken against him by some people who do not see the aspect of our personal relations,” Esperon said.
Langkit is the first of the 28 officers on trial for the alleged coup plot to apologize to Esperon. Two weeks before his apology, Langkit was removed from solitary confinement in Fort Bonifacio.
He is also the third suspected coup plotter in detention to join the political race in May after senatorial candidates Gregorio Honasan and Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, both linked to a short-lived mutiny in July 2003.
Active-duty soldiers are considered resigned once they file their certificates of candidacy.
Langkit was arrested in Quezon City in April 2006.
At that time, he was allegedly recruiting soldiers for a planned assault on Fort Bonifacio, under an operation plan dubbed “Gemstone.” He had been AWOL (absent without official leave) since January of that year.
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No pitch for mutiny raps vs ‘coup plotters’–military chief
Order a ‘prerogative,’ says Esperon
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE) Military prosecutors did not recommend the filing of mutiny charges against Army Scout Ranger and Marine officers implicated in the failed February 2006 coup d’etat, Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. admitted for the first time on Thursday.
But Esperon, who had ordered the filing of mutiny charges against the alleged coup plotters despite the Staff Judge Advocate’s recommendation, maintained that he had the “prerogative” and “sole authority” to do so.
The recommendation had been based on the pre-trial investigation (PTI) report by the Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAGO).
Asked whether his action did not constitute an abuse of authority, Esperon replied in jest: “No, not at all. Ang dami ko pang gagawin sa kanila, but timplado [I could have done more to them, but I held back].”
He said the PTI panel had recommended that the group be charged only with violation of Articles of War 96 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman) and 97 (conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline), considered minor offenses compared to mutiny that was punishable by death in times of war.
Esperon issued the statement as copies of the PTI report were released to counsels for the 19 Scout Rangers and nine marines facing court martial over the botched uprising.
“Based on initial reading, [the PTI report] is no different from the one on the Internet,” said Trixie Angeles, lawyer for accused Army Captain Ruben Guinolbay.
Angeles was referring to a leaked copy of the PTI report, which contained a recommendation to file charges against 18 officers for violation of Articles of War 96 and 97.
Guinolbay’s counsel said she would ask for a copy of the pre-trial advice from Esperon’s Staff Judge Advocate, which had overruled the PTI report.
“He can’t just say, I can do this, I can overrule it, I have the power to do so. Having the power to do so doesn’t mean having the right to do so over reasonable evidence presented before him,” Angeles said.
But Esperon countered: “The PTI report recommended for charges to be filed, Articles of War 96, Article of War 97 on most of them. The pre-trial advice had another set of recommendations, which included mutiny. Based on that, I made my decision.”
“That’s the prerogative of the chief of staff. That’s the duty of the chief of staff. Now they [accused] want to question that? Okay so let’s go to court,” he added.
The PTI panel, headed by Colonel Al Perreras, investigated 38 officers.
According to a leaked copy of the report, which was submitted to Esperon in October, Perreras recommended the filing of charges against 18 officers for violation of Articles of War 96 and 97.
But Esperon ordered the filing of mutiny charges over alleged violations of Articles of War 96, 97, 63 (disrespect towards the president), and 65 (willful disobedience of superior officer).
At the hearing last December 14, Esperon absolved two of the accused Marines, bringing down the number of officers standing trial for mutiny to 19 Scout Rangers and nine Marines.
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AFP briefing Asian envoys on killings
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE) The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is briefing Asian ambassadors on the extrajudicial killings in the country at Camp Aguinaldo.
Being briefed behind closed doors as of this posting are ambassadors In May of Cambodia, Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi of Malaysia and the embassy’s second secretary, Emaleen Adb Rahma Teo of Brunei, Asha Dvitiyananda of Thailand accompanied by her political officer, Muhammad Naeem Khan of Pakistan, Phiane Philakone of Laos, Irzan Tandjung of Indonesia accompanied by counselor for politics Henri Indra Jaya, Muhammad Abul Quashem of Bangladesh, Rajeet Mitter of India, Lim Kheng Hua of Singapore, Vu Xuan Troung of Vietnam, U Thaung Tun of Myanmar, and Hong Jong-Ki of Korea.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who is attending the briefing, said the Asian envoys asked the military for the briefing, which it gave to ambassadors from member-countries of the European Union last week.
“They are asking so they will know the context under which the so-called unexplained killings are happening,” Ermita told reporters.
“We have to let them understand that there [has been] an insurgency problem for 39 years…They have to understand that many are dying because of this conflict, but we are not saying that the armed services are behind this,” he added.
The military has blamed a communist purge for the killings. But the Palace-formed Melo Commission and United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston rejected this theory, blaming most of the murders on some sectors in the Armed Forces.
The Melo panel, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Jose Melo, would submit a more “comprehensive” report in 60 days, Ermita said.
Ermita was in Camp Aguinaldo to deliver the keynote address at the 56th anniversary of the AFP’s Civil Relations Service (CRS).
In his speech, Ermita said “dubious groups and doomsayers” were taking advantage of the uproar over the killings, but these groups “don’t stand a chance.”
Asked to elaborate on this statement, Ermita said communist “front organizations” were using the issue of extrajudicial killings as “propaganda fodder” against the military.
“The [militants'] data [on the killings] is bloated…We have to look at it closely so that the people won’t believe that men in uniform are behind the murders of our countrymen,” he said.
The human rights group Karapatan has recorded over 830 extrajudicial killings since President Gloria Macapagl-Arroyo assumed power in 2001, versus just over 100 cases recorded by the police’ Task Force Usig.
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