Military unrest possible over SC ruling (6:35 p.m.)

MANILA -- Detained senatorial candidate Brigadier General Danilo Lim said on Friday that Supreme Court decision allowing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to pick the successor of retiring Chief Justice Reynato Puno despite the ban on “midnight appointments” might signal another military unrest.

In a statement circulated to media, Lim believed that some restive elements in the military are “closely monitoring” the developments in the so-called Arroyo Supreme Court, where all but Puno are her appointees.

“Can we blame the ordinary soldier? When the judiciary is anything but luminous, when the legislature is the plaything of Malacanang and when our poll body is widely perceived as a cheating apparatus, can we fault the ordinary soldier if he decided to heed his conscience and rise up?” Lim asked.

But Lim was quick to distance himself from the possibility of new military uprising, saying that he has taken another path to “pursue his advocacy for social change.”

Lim however called on the Supreme Court to reverse the decision unless the justices wanted “to witness an uprising powered by the people and military.”

The bemedalled officer is facing rebellion charges in connection with the November 2007 standoff at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City and also faces charges of mutiny before a military court in connection with the February 2006 coup. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)