Wednesday, February 28, 2007 10 coup plotters ordered detained in Tanay military camp
ARMED Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Tuesday ordered the detention of 10 Marine and Army officers involved in last year's attempt to grab power from the Arroyo administration at the headquarters of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division in Tanay, Rizal.
Nine of the 10 officers were taken to their new detention facility after attending court martial proceedings here
The 10 officers include former Marine commandant Renato Miranda, who, along with former First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) commander Danilo Lim, planned to lead their men at the Edsa Shrine on February 24 last year and withdraw their support from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The others were Colonels Ariel Querubin, Orlando de Leon, Armando Bañez;
Lieutenant Colonels Custodio Parcon and Achilles Segumalian; Major Francisco Domingo Fernandez; and 1st Lieutenant Belinda Ferrer, all from the Marines; Army Captain Dante Langkit; and Marine Colonel Januario Caringal who is recuperating in a Navy hospital in Manila for hepatitis since last month.
Armed Forces public information officer Bartolome Bacarro said Caringal would be brought to the Tanay jail once he is discharged from the hospital.
The 10 officers used to be under the custody of custodians at the Bonifacio Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio, Fort San Felipe in Cavite City, and at the Custudial Management Unit in Fort Bonifacio.
Bacarro said Miranda would be sharing a room with Lim, who had been in detention in Tanay for several months already. Lim and 17 other officers from FSRR had been brought to the detention facility several months ago.
Meanwhile, the military tribunal directed military lawyers to furnish the officers linked to last year's failed power grab with the pre-trial investigation (PTI) report that supposedly cleared them of mutiny charges.
The decision was followed by the announcement from the Armed Forces of the detention of the 10 officers in Tanay.
At the continuation of the court martial proceedings against the suspected coup plotters, defense lawyers renewed their demand for copies of the report prepared by a panel of investigators led by Lieutenant Colonel Al Perreras in October.
A leaked copy of the unsigned report disclosed that the Perreras panel had recommended to Esperon the dismissal of the mutiny charges against all the accused and to try the accused for violation of Articles of War (AW) 96 (conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman) in connection with the coup attempt.
However, Esperon Jr. overturned the recommendation and had all the officers charged with both charges before the court martial headed by Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) chief Alexander Yano.
Esperon also ordered the filing of additional charges against Lim - the alleged leader of the plot - for violation of AW 63 (disrespect toward the President, Vice President, Congress and Secretary of National Defense), AW 65 (assaulting or willfully disobeying a superior officer) and (conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman)
Two other accused - Querubin and Segumalian - are also facing additional charges, namely, AW 65 and 97 for Querubin and AW 67 for Segumalian before the court.
The defense panel has been demanding for the PTI report since November last year when the court first held its first two hearings. However, the court ignored the motions on the request of the prosecution. (VR/Sunnex)
