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Saturday, May 27, 2006
Military chief defends arrest of 5 Estrada men
MANILA -- Armed Forces Chief Generoso Senga on Friday justified the warrantless arrests of five supporters of former President Joseph Estrada for rebellion but ordered an inquiry on the alleged torture of one of the suspects.
Senga said "proper procedures" were observed by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) when its agents arrested the five last Monday in Quezon City.
The five suspects were Virgilio Eustaquio, chairman of the pro-Estrada Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ), Police Officers 3 Ruben Dionisio, Dennis Ebona, Jose Justo Curameng, and Jim Cabauatan.
"The warrantless arrest is allowed in that case because we are pursuing the crime of rebellion, which is a continuing offense, so under our jurisprudence this is allowed, the proper procedures were observed," said Senga.
The opposition, including Estrada's Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), has denounced the arrests saying it was part of a "continued persecution of individuals and groups fighting the injustices of the current administration."
Military officials have said the five were planning to assassinate at least four Cabinet officials. Dionisio, they added, is an intelligence officer of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the New People's Army (NPA) in Metro Manila.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had ordered last Thursday the release of the five suspects pending the conduct of a preliminary investigation against them. They were asked to submit their counter-affidavits.
Commenting on the DOJ's decision, Senga said: "We respect the decision of the Department of Justice but we will also look at, I mean our legal staff will look at the matter again and review it so we can determine what is the proper legal action that we should take."
When asked if the military is bent on pursuing the case against the five, Senga said: "As I've said, we will look at the decision and the basis for the decision of the Department of Justice then our legal staff will study the matter."
Senga said he has ordered an investigation of the Isafp's Military Intelligence Group 15 that led the operation over a claim by Dionisio that he was manhandled, tortured, and electrocuted by the arresting team to force him to admit that he is an NPA leader.
"There are allegations of torture, we are investigating it," the AFP chief said, adding that the Isafp leadership will be spearheading the inquiry. The Isafp is headed by Navy commodore Leonardo Calderon.
"I have in fact directed that the investigation be concluded right away and (an investigation) report be submitted to me soonest so we can evaluate the report and if we are satisfied or we are not satisfied then we can determine the next action. If we are not satisfied, we can elevate the investigation at a higher level," Senga said.
On why Calderon was informed by MIG-15 (the National Capital Region branch of Isafp) of the operation only last Tuesday night, Senga said there are instances where commanders are briefed after the operation.
"In operational situations, the events occur fast. Sometimes what is given priority by the operatives is the pursuit of operation. So informing the commander comes later, in this case the chief of the Intelligence Service," he said.
After consulting Isafp officials, AFP public information chief Tristan Kison denied last Tuesday morning that the five were under the custody of any military unit. The following day, Kison admitted that the suspects were taken by MIG-15 under its custody.
"That's what has happened. There was no immediate information given to the chief Isafp. Because of those reasons, consequently the chief of the public information office had no information also, that's why in the morning of Tuesday when he was asked (by media) and he said they are not with us. It was because we have no information at that point in time," he said.
Senga said he welcomes any congressional investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the five Estrada supporters.
In the Senate, the five supporters of Estrada vowed to file charges against Isafp officers, particularly Calderon.
Of the five, Curameng, Eustaquio, Ebona and Cabauatan went to the Senate Friday to ask assistance from the senators. Dionisio was still recuperating in a hospital.
In a press briefing called by Senator Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, Curameng said they are already consulting their lawyers on appropriate charges to file against Isafp officers.
"The problem is we don't know the faces of those who abducted us, we don't have names because we were blindfolded so we don't know who to pinpoint but one thing is for sure, our rights have been violated and we will hold responsible those who violated our rights," Curameng told reporters.
Curameng narrated how they were subjected to mental torture. "Armalites were pointed at us. We were blindfolded. We felt overwhelming fear. Even if they did not subject me to physical torture, I felt worse than that. We were cut off from our families and there was uncertainty if they're going to keep us alive or not. I think it was a bungled liquidation," Curameng told reporters.
Senators earlier threatened to hold the budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) until military officials appear before the Senate.
They said Armed Forces officials, including Chief of Staff Generoso Senga and Calderon, should face the panel and explain what took place last Monday.
At the DND budget hearing Friday, Senga defended Colonel Tristan Kison saying he has no plans of imposing sanctions on Kison.
He clarified that Kison is not the Armed Forces' spokesperson but the military's public information officer (PIO).
Kison, who also attended the DND budget hearing, said he had already rectified his mistake so there was no need to apologize.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said DND and military officials have clarified in an executive session why they abducted the five but he could not just divulge what was discussed during the executive session.
Meanwhile, the military maintained that Dionisio belongs to the SOG of the NPA.
In a statement posted in its website, the military said it has in its custody at least two witnesses who could prove that Dionisio and his group were planning the assassinations in Metro Manila.
"He is a member of the NPA tasked to assassinate government officials, the President being on top of his list," the Armed Forces said of Dionisio.
The Armed Forces said Dionisio's arrest was effected after he was implicated in the assassination plot by at least two NPA rebels, one of them a certain Arnel Alonzo of the Metro Manila-Rizal Party Committee of the CPP/NPA.
"The arrest of the four other members, who at that time, were in a discussion with the subject was circumstantial. They were not arrested for being the supporters of the former President but because of the fact that they are in a meeting with a person committing rebellion," the statement read.
Alonzo, who carries the alias Boy Negro, supposedly surrendered to the military while the second witness, who was only described as a member of the NPA's SOG, was arrested. The military did not give details of the surrender and arrest.
"The two revealed in separate occasions the plan of Mr. Ruben Dionisio's group to conduct liquidation operations in Metro Manila," the military said, adding that it is well aware of the communist movement's plot to overthrow the government and set up a communist state.
"The only way that they can attain this objective is to foment a state of terror and chaos, to destabilize the political situation, discredit the military and agitate the people," the military also said.
On the claim of Dionisio that he was tortured by the military to force him to admit that he is a rebel leader, the Armed Forces said the results of the medical examination taken right after the arrest of the five "showed that those contusions were the result of his attempt to evade and resist the arresting authorities. He caused the pains in his own body to pin the blame on the military."
"Political parties should be wary of the scheme of the CPP/NPA. The fact that Mr. Dionisio was arrested by government agents meeting UMDJ members show that the CPP is infiltrating legal and political organizations in pursuit of its devious objective," the Armed Forces added.
In Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Armed Forces will explain to the Senate in an executive session how the arrest of five supporters of former Estrada preempted an alleged plot against Cabinet members.
Bunye, who is also Presidential spokesman, insisted that the alleged plot to kill presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, and Secretaries Raul Gonzalez Sr. of justice and Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. of the public works is real and was meant to protect public order.
The justice department has ordered the Armed Forces to release Estrada's five supporters, saying that the case against them is weak. (VR/PE/JMR/Sunnex)
(May 27, 2006 issue)
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