Thursday, March 06, 2008 Cimatu to testify for Trillanes, Magdalo soldiers
FORMER Armed Forces chief now Middle East special envoy Roy Cimatu is set to take the witness stand before the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) hearing the coup d'etat case of the Magdalo soldiers, including detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, in connection with the short-lived 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
Trillanes's lawyer Reynaldo Robles said Cimatu will take the witness stand before the sala of Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Oscar Pimentel at 9 a.m. Thursday.
"He (Cimatu) was the one who picked the date so I think he will appear," Robles said when asked for the confirmation of Cimatu's presence in court last Wednesday morning.
Cimatu will testify on the existence of a "gentleman's agreement" forged between the Magdalo group and government negotiators that the former AFP chief headed leading to the peaceful resolution of the standoff.
He will also confirm if the agreement has the blessings of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"General Cimatu's testimony is very important to us since he will be made to confirm if the agreement has the blessings of Malacañang. We do believe it has, since it was the President herself who went on air to announce the successful negotiation," Robles said.
He added that if it was confirmed that the agreement has the President's approval, it would prove that the government has reneged on its promise to the junior officers since the agreement called for the prosecution of only five of the Magdalo's core leaders: Trillanes, Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade James Layug, Marine Captain Gary Alejano and Army Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrocampo.
The rest of the soldiers would be reprimanded under the military court-martial.
During the last hearing on February 21, Pimentel was prompted to cut short the proceedings due to the absence of Cimatu.
In a letter to the court, Cimatu assured his presence in Thursday's hearing. The envoy said he failed to make it in the last hearing because he went to his hometown in Ilocos to attend to his ailing father.
Earlier, Generals Danilo Lim, Nestor Oban and Feliciano Ange testified on the existence of the agreement but none could fully confirm if it has the Palace blessings.
Another member of the government negotiating panel, the late Maximo Soliven (publisher of the broadsheet Philippine Star), confirmed the agreement in his column "By the Way."
Soliven was the only civilian member of the negotiating panel.
Meanwhile, Trillanes, Lim and 16 other Magdalo officers will be arraigned on rebellion charges in connection with last year's standoff at the Manila Peninsula Hotel also before the Makati RTC.
Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda set the arraignment at 11 a.m. Thursday after the hearing of the coup d'etat charges of the Magdalo soldiers before the sala of Pimentel.
Trillanes and 12 of the accused in the rebellion case are also facing coup d'etat charges for the Oakwood mutiny.
Aside from the lawmaker and Lim, also to be arraigned were Marine Captain Gary Alejano; Navy Lieutenant Senior Grades James Layug, Manuel Cabochan, Eugene Louie Gonzalez and Andy Torrato; Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Arturo Pascua; Marine Second Lieutenant Jonnel Sangalang; Air Force Captain Segundino Orfiano and First Lieutenant Billy Pascua; Ensign Armand Pontejos; Army Corporal Clecarte Dahan; Privates First Class Juanito Jilbury, Emmanuel Tirador and German Linde; and former Navy Petty Officers Julius Mesa and Cesar Yassir Gonzalez.
The Magdalo soldiers' lawyer, Ernesto Francisco Jr., confirmed that all the accused would attend the arraignment.
"Definitely all of them would attend the arraignment. Senator Trillanes will be there," Francisco said.
Trillanes and his group were presently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame since the November 29 standoff.
The Makati court on December 13 said it found probable cause for the issuance of a commitment order against Trillanes and the Magdalo soldiers who took over the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City. (AH/Sunnex)
