Saturday, December 06, 2008 Ermita, Dureza to testify on Magdalo coup trial
EXECUTIVE Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Press Secretary Jesus Dureza will appear before a Makati court handling the coup d’etat case of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Magdalo Group in January next year as the next defense witnesses.
Ernesto Francisco Jr., lawyer for Magdalo soldiers, said the two Malacañang officials have already signified their readiness to appear before the sala of Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 Judge Oscar Pimentel by sending their emissaries during Thursday’s hearing where they are supposed to testify.
“Secretaries Ermita and Dureza through their representatives have told the court they are ready to testify in the next scheduled hearing on January 15, 2009. They said they were unable to attend the hearing because of prior commitments,” Francisco said, adding that he understands their absence.
"I understand their situation, what is good is that they expressed their willingness to testify and they committed to appear on January 15," Francisco said.
Earlier, Pimentel issued subpoenas to Dureza and Ermita based on the petition of the Magdalo soldiers to require the two Palace officials to testify on various events in Mindanao that prompted the rebel soldiers to stage the short-lived mutiny on July 27, 2003.
Dureza would also be asked on a supposed memorandum of instruction from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordering the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to capture then Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Hashim Salamat “dead or alive” and that he presented the fake document, which has been widely circulated in the region.
Mrs. Arroyo, in the memorandum, also directed the AFP to undertake a so-called “Operation Greenbase,” whereby the military must also “capture and occupy” simultaneously within one week the Buliok Complex fronting the Liguasan Marsh area comprising Kabalsalan Island Complex, Rajamuda Complex, and Buliok Complex where Hashim Salamat’s headquarters or Islamic Center is located.
Malacañang has already denied the existence of the Oplan Greenbase.
“They (referring to Dureza and Ermita) also have full knowledge of the February 2003 bloody offensive at the Buliok Complex in Pikit, North Cotabato, a former stronghold of the MILF which the government allegedly wanted to clear for an oil exploration project,” said lawyer Francisco.
The defense has argued that the Buliok offensive undertaken by the military last February 2003, which resulted in numerous casualties and the displacement of more than 100,000 civilians, triggered the Oakwood mutiny staged by Magdalo soldiers led by Trillanes.
Assistant State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon had objected to the defense's request and asked Pimentel to junk the motion for "utter lack of merit," saying the defense is using the “Buliok defense” to delay the proceedings of the five-year-old case.
The press secretary would also testify on the role of the Khadaffi Foundation on the plan to put up several projects at the Buliok Complex.
Dureza was then the presidential assistant for Mindanao and head of the government peace panel in the GRP-MILF peace talks, while Ermita was the presidential peace adviser.
Ermita, for his part, would be asked to shed light on some questions relative to his position as then peace adviser, particularly on the comprehensive peace and development efforts in the Liguasan Marsh” and head of “Task Force Liguasan Marsh,”
According to Francisco, the testimonies of the two officials would support the rebel soldiers' defense that they had not planned to overthrow the Arroyo administration, and what they did was merely an expression of their grievances. (AH/Sunnex)
