Friday, May 25, 2007 Coup raps v. ex-senator may be downgraded: justice head
WEEKS after prosecutors found probable cause to indict former senator Gregorio Honasan for allegedly masterminding the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said Thursday that the charges against him may be downgraded to his being just an accomplice.
Gonzalez is now reviewing the petition filed by Honasan appealing the ruling of a panel of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors that dismissed all arguments that he raised in his belatedly filed counter-affidavit during a reinvestigation of the coup charges.
Gonzalez said it is likely that from being a principal respondent, the charge against Honasan may be amended one degree lower in the light of his supposed apology to the people following the grant of bail by the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) for his temporary liberty.
"I am reviewing it (petition). It's possible that the charge will be downgraded. All the while, Honasan is claiming that he is not guilty," he said.
Honasan, who ran as an independent during the May 14 elections, has consistently been in the top 12 senatorial slots during the ongoing tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The former lawmaker was granted bail by Makati Judge Oscar Pimentel, allowing him to go full-blast in the campaign.
Gonzalez said the supposed apology of Honasan took place when he visited President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang prior to the elections. He also said during Honasan's visit to his office in April, the reelectionist senator also conveyed his wishes for reconciliation with the government.
"Maybe we have to twist a little fact of the case, but the President has not talked to me about it. All I know is what Gringo has offered, that he will apologize to the Filipino people, that he will apologize to the Armed Forces if granted bail. I think he has apologized. That's how I understand it... I think he has complied," he said.
Four days after the Makati court granted him bail, the DOJ found probable cause anew to indict Honasan for alleged participation in the foiled attempt to wrest power from government during the Oakwood mutiny in July 27, 2003 with the so-called Magdalo group.
Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said Honasan failed to counter the evidence submitted by complainant PNP -Criminal Investigation Division Group (CIDG) showing that Honasan was liable under Article 134-A of the Revised Penal Code as the brains behind the failed coup.
The DOJ's resolution merely affirmed its Dec. 12, 2005 finding of probable cause against Honasan.
In his counter-affidavit, submitted on March 5, Honasan denied masterminding the Oakwood mutiny led by some junior military officers at the Oakwood Premiere Apartments in Makati City.
Through lawyer Daniel Gutierrez, Honasan said the allegations of the PNP-CIDG, specifically of Director Eduardo Matillano, that the former senator's advocacies through the National Recovery Program led junior officers of the Armed Forces to mount the uprising.
Honasan further claimed that the Oakwood incident does not have the elements of a coup d'etat as defined under the Revised Penal Code.
"The apparent defensive posture assumed by the young idealistic officers and soldiers at Oakwood was not a swift attack directed against any duly constituted authorities of the government, or any military camp or installation, communications network, public utility or any facility needed for the government's continued possession of power carried out for the purpose of seizing or diminishing state power. All they wanted was for their grievances to be heard," he said in his affidavit.
He said the idea to implicate him in the alleged coup was "just a ploy to distract the people from real issues and project them as nothing but pawns with no real or valid grievance." (ECV/Sunnex)
