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Friday, December 16, 2005
Abat, 3 others held, charged
MANILA - Police arrested 80-year-old retired Army general Fortunato Abat a day after he declared a “revolutionary transition government” to oust President Arroyo.
Abat, a former defense secretary and army commander, was bundled into an unmarked police van and taken in for questioning together with former ambassador Roy Señeres, former budget secretary Salvador Enriquez and lawyer Carlos Serapio.
Police later lodged sedition complaints against them.
Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said they would decide by noon today if the charges would be forwarded before the courts.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez claimed Abat and his companions voluntarily accepted the invitation of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation Group (PNP-CIDG) to go to Camp Crame for interrogation.
“It’s not yet an arrest. It’s just an invitation,” Gonzalez said, adding that, “We have evidence. In fact, the PNP has gathered some evidence on the statements of Abat.”
But PNP Spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said Abat and company were arrested for inciting to sedition after Abat declared himself as “president” of a “transitory government.”
Bataoil explained that no arrest warrant was necessary as the arresting CIDG team implemented the citizen’s arrest.
“There can be no other government except this administration....There can be no provisional government,” he told reporters.
Enriquez said the police did not show any warrant and told them they were just being “invited” for questioning at the national police headquarters.
Abat had urged the military and the public to support calls for the ouster of Arroyo, who survived an impeachment vote in the legislature in September over allegations she cheated to win the May 2004 presidential election.
In a statement he read at the historic Club Filipino in suburban San Juan city on Wednesday, Abat declared “the existence of a revolutionary transition government and the formation of a transition government council to administer the affairs of government.”
Though the government had considered Abat more of a nuisance than a security threat, Arroyo’s chief aide Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters: “We have to do something because we cannot let the people feel there is a violation of law and nothing is being done.”
However, lawyer Homobono Adaza said Abat and his supporters will file charges against Gonzalez and CIDG National Capital Region Chief Asher Dolina for the illegal arrest.
“They have taken my client forcibly, violating their rights. As officers of the law, they should be fair to everyone,” said Adaza in an ABS-CBN report.
Adaza also said that the arrest was pure political harassment since they made the apprehension “in absence of strong evidence.”
But Gonzalez said the National Bureau of Investigation has “evidence” against Abat, including some “video footage” of the statements the former defense secretary made.
He said the government will pursue, at least for the meantime, the pending complaint for inciting to sedition against him in relation to the recent development.
In a crackdown on supporters of Abat, Army commander Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon on Wednesday ordered the retired general’s son, Col. Victor Abat, relieved as deputy commander of the 702nd Brigade in northern Nueva Ecija province for allegedly “enjoining others to join destabilization” through mobile telephone text messages.
His son-in-law, police general Jaime Caringal, also was alleged to have been involved in a coup plot. Caringal has denied any involvement and said he continues to support the chain of command.
Arroyo, who has been haunted for months by calls for her ouster, survived an opposition attempt to impeach her in September for allegedly rigging last year’s election and suspected corruption.
She left Sunday for Kuala Lumpur for a Southeast Asian summit amid rumors of a coup in the capital.
Her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, described Abat’s move as “quite unfortunate and pathetic,” adding that Arroyo has the full support of the military and police. (AP/AFP/Sunnex)
(December 16, 2005 issue)
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