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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Another Oakwood mutineer recaptured by police
By Jonathan F. Fernandez
MANILA -- A fugitive army lieutenant who was among officers participating in a 2003 failed mutiny was rearrested early Tuesday at a police checkpoint south of Manila, officials said.
Army First Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan was arrested along with lawyer Kit Belmonte and a suspected member of the communist armed group New People's Army later identified as Albert Sungcal in the village of San Felipe in Padre Burgos town in Batangas, 100 kilometers south of Manila.
San Juan escaped last month from a military detention camp with three other mutineers, and has been giving phone interviews and sending tape messages to the media. The other three remain at large.
National police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said San Juan was arrested after leaving a meeting with communist rebels at a farm in Batangas. The farm was raided by 100 police and soldiers.
"They were monitored to have come from that farm and in fact, when the farm was raided, there was food on the table and apparently, those who were present scampered in different directions," Lomibao said.
San Juan and his two cohorts were on board a white Mitsubishi Adventure mini van when stopped by police and military operatives.
Lomibao accused San Juan of plotting an alliance with the NPA.
In a taped message sent to news organizations last week, San Juan urged citizens to show defiance of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government by wearing red armbands.
In another radio interview, he claimed that 10 active generals would join a planned coup against Arroyo.
Lomibao said since San Juan is a soldier facing a rebellion case before a general court martial, he should be brought back to military custody.
The mutineer was flown in handcuffs by helicopter to Fort Bonifacio in Manila Tuesday while his two companions were left behind in Batangas for police investigation.
The police chief said additional charges await San Juan for "allegedly calling on the people to revolt against the Arroyo government." He said they are also studying the filing of charges against San Juan's two companions.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Generoso Senga said that with the arrest of San Juan, there would be no letup in their efforts to recapture three other fugitive mutineers -- Army Captain Nathaniel Rabonza and First Lieutenants Sonny Sarmiento and Patricio Bumindang Jr.
A report said that prior to San Juan's arrest, combined military and police operatives swooped down on a house in Barangay San Felipe after receiving information that a fugitive mutineer was meeting with suspected communist rebels to discuss a tactical alliance with the group on the toppling of the Arroyo administration.
San Juan and his two companions were able to escape before the raiding team arrived, prompting authorities to alarm police and military stations nearby.
The military chief said his men recovered from the house several documents showing San Juan's ties with the communist group.
San Juan is the second fugitive mutineer to be rearrested after Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, who escaped from military custody but was recaptured in Tugatog, Malabon City last January 27.
San Juan called for Arroyo's removal from office before the end of the month. He assured that the ouster of the President would be done through peaceful means.
He said he and the three other mutineers had been discussing with 10 military generals a plan to bring down President Arroyo. He sought the support of the Filipino people so that "we could achieve real reforms in the country."
San Juan was one of the junior military officers who led 300 troops during their occupation of the ritzy Oakwood Hotel and a nearby shopping mall in the Makati City financial district in July 2003. They rigged the area with bombs, but surrendered peacefully after about 20 hours. (AP/Sunnex)
(February 22, 2006 issue)
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