Thursday, February 02, 2006
2 soldiers held for links with coup leader
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Two marine soldiers assigned in Palawan province in the central Philippines have been taken into military custody Wednesday on suspicion they are supporting an arrested coup leader, officials said.
"We have the two in our custody and they are being interrogated for their alleged links with Captain Nicanor Faeldon. Our efforts are going on to track down others who are supporting the coup leaders," said Col. Tristan Kison, Armed Forces spokesman.
The two--Privates Harry Glaraga and Lorenzo Caranzo--were taken into custody in Palawan and brought by soldiers to Manila for investigation.
"Military interrogators are questioning the two soldiers after Faeldon admitted they are his supporters. Faeldon is cooperating with us," Kison said.
The two are assigned at the Western Command headquarters, one of several military bases visited by Faeldon and where he took video and photographs of himself after his daring escape on December 14 during a court trial in Makati City.
Faeldon was arrested last week with another supporter, Capt. Candelaria Rivas, in Malabon City. Four other escaped coup leaders, Capt. Nathaniel Rabonza and Lieutenants Sony Sarmiento, Laurence San Juan, and Patricio Bumidang, are still in hiding since bolting out January 17 from their cells inside an army camp in Makati City.
The military launched an investigation to unmask Faeldon's supporters and his contacts in the military. Faeldon had repeatedly said he was able to sneak into various military camps because of support he got from fellow soldiers.
Aside from the Western Command, Faeldon also said he went inside the Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga City and Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo in Manila. He also reportedly planned to sneak inside and take a picture of himself inside the Central Command in Cebu province but only got as far as a nearby hotel.
On Wednesday, Major General Romeo Tolentino, commander of the Northern Luzon Command, issued a shoot-to-kill order on the four other escaped coup leaders. "If they resist arrest, shoot them," he said.
The Southern Command on Wednesday ordered troops to arrest the four coup leaders if they are spotted inside military camps or anywhere in Mindanao.
"If they are armed and resort to violence to resist arrest, then soldiers have no other recourse but to shoot them in self defense. Soldiers will respond accordingly to the levels of threats against them," said Major Gamal Hayudini, chief information officer of the Southern Command, the largest military installation outside Manila.
Philippine Army chief Lieutenant General Hermogenes Esperon on Wednesday defended the Armed Forces in the hunt for the escaped coup leaders and their supporters.
"When they joined the Oakwood mutiny, they knew the consequences of their actions. They tried, but failed to overthrow the government, so they have to pay the consequences of their actions," Esperon said.
Faeldon's group of about 300 soldiers staged a coup at the Oakwood hotel in Makati City in July 2003 and demanded reforms in the military and the resignation of several politicians, but the putsch was short-lived. They surrendered 18 hours later after a series of negotiations and were all put in jail. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(February 2, 2006 issue)
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