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Friday, January 20, 2006
Escaped mutineers form group, seek Arroyo ouster
MANILA -- The four junior military officers who escaped from detention Tuesday said they will fight for a change in personalities and oppose a government system that "installs the people's enemies in power" and "perpetuates exclusion of the majority."
In a statement issued Thursday, Army Captain Nathaniel Rabonza and 1st Lieutenants Sonny Sarmiento, Lawrence San Juan and Patricio Bumindang, who were among 236 soldiers who staged a failed mutiny against the Arroyo administration in Makati City on July 27, 2003, said they have created a "new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)" that would topple a "bogus" regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The four soldiers said the "new AFP" grows stronger by the day, working in solidarity to usher a new nation where the people's interests are truly supreme. "Corruption, illegitimacy and neglect must end. The imperative is on all of us. The time to act is now," they said.
They said they are seeking a change of a system that reduces the people to being mere spectators and a change in the kind of politics that lulls the masses into inaction and acquiescence with noise like petty quarrels, distracting issues, and cosmetic reforms.
"We are not alone in this struggle. Most of the soldiers are still loyal to their oath and are one with us in our vision. We make up the new AFP. And we join our fellow Filipinos who now refuse to be cowed," they said.
According to Ruel Pulido, one of the lawyers of the Magdalo soldiers, Bumindang told him in a phone conversation their fellow soldiers helped them escape to save them from "evil intentions."
Pulido refused to elaborate what Bumindang meant by "evil intentions" against them. He said Bumindang and the three other soldiers are in good condition and "in a far place."
The four officers said they escaped to protest the alleged repression in the Arroyo government under an "illegitimate rule." "It is a repression that continues to prevent the members of the AFP from, and even punishes them for, carrying out their sworn duty: to defend the Filipino people," they said.
The escape of the Oakwood mutineers followed the escape of fellow mutineer Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon who escaped on December 14, 2005.
"Our oath is clear: Our place is with our people; the people's will is sovereign. All our actions in the performance of our duties must demonstrate this bias in all instances," they also said in the statement.
Lieutenant General Hermogenes Esperon, chief of the Philippine Army (PA), dismissed as mere propaganda the statement of the four. He rejected the officers' claims that many soldiers are now turning against the Arroyo government. "Its not true. That's propaganda. We are loyal to the organization and to the chain of command," Esperon added.
He said there is no need for a loyalty check in the military ranks, adding that field commanders have pledged their allegiance to the chain of command.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales also dismissed the call of the mutineers for others to join their efforts in overthrowing the Arroyo administration, which they described as "corrupt" and a "bogus" regime.
Gonzales expressed confidence that the four would fail to recruit anyone, particularly from the military, to join their cause. "They would fail. The whole AFP is solidly behind the President," he said.
He also welcomed the surfacing of the four after bolting from detention proving that they escaped and are not being hidden by the government as some alleged. He said they are looking into the possible involvement of some personalities in the escape of the four, including the possible participation of some members of the opposition.
"It's a possibility. It could happen but I don't have any hard evidence to back it up. We will check it," he said. (JFF/JMR/Sunnex)
(January 20, 2006 issue)
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