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Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Convicted Magdalo leaders may get pardon
MANILA (Updated 12:49 p.m.) -- Nine junior military officers sentenced to jail terms ranging from 12 to 40 years Tuesday morning for taking part in the failed mutiny against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2003 may get executive clemency, a defense lawyer said.
The nine are part of a group of 31 junior officers accused of leading a daylong mutiny in which they took over an upscale hotel and mall complex and rigged it with explosives in Manila's financial district of Makati. They later surrendered peacefully.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Regional Trial Court of Makati sentenced Captains Milo Maestrecampo and Gerardo Gambala to 40 years in prison and 12 years to Captains Alvin Ebreo, Laurence Luis Somera, Albert Baloloy and John Andres and First Lieutenants Cleo Dongaas, Florentino Somera and Kristoffer Bryan Yasay. They are facing separate court martial charges.
Lawyer Trixie Angeles, counsel of Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon , said Gambala and Maestrecampo who pleaded guilty to coup charges last week may get pardon from President Arroyo.
Gambala and Maestrecampo apologized to President Arroyo in 2004 in relation to the failed Oakwood mutiny.
According to Angeles, the nine convicted junior officers are expected to be pardoned because Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has been working with the group of Gambala. She added that the military head is instrumental to the change of plea by the nine officers last week.
Angeles further stated that nine officers change of plea may have been timed for Esperon's retirement on May 9.
Esperon had no immediate reaction, but said the verdict showed that the judicial system "is taking its due course." He said he appreciated the officers' guilty plea.
Last week, all nine changed their pleas to guilty in an indication of a possible plea bargain. But Assistant State Prosecutor Richard Fadullon denied any deal was reached.
Fadullon said the prosecution sought only 20 years for the two officers - Gambala and Maestrecampo from the elite army Scout Rangers.
"The decision caught us by surprise due to the penalties. However, Judge Pimentel has his reasons and what the judge imposed was in accordance with the law. It's harsher than what we expected," he told reporters.
Fadullon said he recommended the prison term, which is one degree lower for the case, because of mitigating circumstances such as the accused' peaceful surrender that ended the Oakwood standoff.
He said the ruling would dispel whatever notion that the accused have entered into an agreement with the prosecution for a lower penalty.
Aside from a lower penalty, rumors surfaced that they will be granted executive clemency in exchange for their change of plea but Fadullon dismissed the allegation as "pure speculation."
"I really don't know where that came from but we should stop speculating but certainly there was no prior arrangement with us," he said.
But if the ruling surprised the prosecutors, none of the junior officers showed any emotion as the eight page dispositive portion of the 127-page decision was read by a court staff.
State prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera who managed to confer with the convicted officers at the personnel office of the court while they're waiting for a copy of the decision said the latter feel "relieved" at the decision.
"They, especially Maestrecampo, even expressed their thanks for having a closure on the case. They said they were relieved that the case is over but he said that they find it difficult to know that there are people who are not ready to accept the verdict, "Navera said.
Meanwhile, the nine officers would remain in their detention cell at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio as the court granted their request for the suspension of the issuance of the commitment order that would have sent them to the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa to serve their sentence.
"All the accused subject of the decision of the court dated April 8, 2008 shall continue to be detained at their present place of detention during the pendency of the plead to appeal, thereafter the court will issue the corresponding order,' the decision said.
Defense lawyers Reynaldo Robles and Ernesto Francisco had said that the action of the nine should not have an effect on the rest of the accused, but the prosecutors said they believed otherwise.
The government said the July 27, 2003, mutiny was part of a larger coup conspiracy, but the officers who led the action said they were only protesting alleged corruption and demanding the resignation of Arroyo and other officials. They gave up without a shot fired after a 19-hour standoff.
A fact-finding commission concluded the mutiny was not a spontaneous protest, but part of a larger plot to seize power from Arroyo and appoint a 15-member junta.
It was one of the most serious challenges faced by Arroyo since she took power in a 2001 "people power" uprising that ousted her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, on charges of corruption. She has survived four attempted power grabs and three opposition impeachments in her seven years in power.(AP/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (April 8, 2008 issue)
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