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Saturday, May 10, 2008
AFP chief orders court martial v. army general
MANILA -- Days before his retirement, Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. ordered the court martial proceedings against an Army major general who allegedly extorted money from recruits wanting to bypass army screening, a military spokesman said Friday.
AFP public information office chief Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro said Major General Jose Barbieto, who headed an infantry division battling communist rebels and Muslim militants, will be charged with unauthorized recruitment of soldiers, unbecoming conduct, and undermining military discipline.
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Barbieto, along with Sergeant Roseller Echepare who was also linked to the case of extortion, are restricted to quarters at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.
The two will be tried for violation of the Articles of War (AW) 55 or making unlawful enlistment and AW 97 or conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.
Barbieto will also be tried for violation of AW 96 or conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Barbieto and Echepare have been suspended without pay pending a separate graft investigation by the Ombudsman, the civilian anti-corruption prosecutor.
The two men could not be immediately reached for comment. Neither Barbieto nor his representative has made any statement since the charges were first disclosed in February.
"He is not yet guilty," Bacarro said. "General Barbieto and others who may be implicated here will be given opportunity to defend themselves."
A number of ranking army officers accused Barbieto of demanding, through Echepare, between 25,000 and 30,000 pesos from army applicants in exchange for guaranteed enlistment without needing to pass written and physical exams, the office of the Ombudsman said in a statement.
One applicant, who initially failed with a hearing problem, was told he could get into the army by paying, the statement said.
Bacarro said the court martial, ordered by Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon, "is just to show that the military justice system is working and that whoever violates the law regardless of position or rank ... will be tried."
He explained that the trial of Barbieto and Echepare would be at the level of the Army because general court martial at the AFP general headquarters (GHQ) is pre-occupied with many cases, some of them controversial.
The controversial cases presently tried by military courts at the GHQ level include the attempted power grab attempt in February 2006.
The accused included former Marine commandant Major General Renato Miranda and former Scout Ranger chief Brigadier General Danilo Lim.
Also, Bacarro cited the ongoing trial against dozens of junior officers implicated in the short-lived Oakwood mutiny in July 2003.
The accused in the case included former Navy lieutenant turned opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
"The Philippine Army will initiate the conduct of general court martial against general Barbieto for the reason that right now we have many cases tried by the GCM (general court martial) here at the general headquarters," said Bacarro.
Esperon ordered the court martial based on the recommendation of the office of the Judge Advocate General, which reviewed initial recommendations by Army investigators that earlier found prima facie case to proceed with the court martial of Barbieto.
"Our GCM at the general headquarters are filled with cases. In the spirit of speedy trial the chief of staff has approved the conduct of a GCM proceeding against general Barbieto but this will be handled by the Philippine Army," said Bacarro.
Bacarro said the court martial proceedings will start as soon as the Army appoints the members of the court.
"We will leave it to the Philippine Army to identify the membership of the general court martial, so the Army will be identifying or designating who the members will be," he said.
Incidentally, Esperon -- who is retiring on Monday -- and Barbieto are classmates at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1974.
Bacarro said Esperon did not let his affiliation with Barbieto in coming up with the decision.
Barbieto is the second Army major general to be tried by a court martial. The first was former AFP deputy chief of staff for comptrollership Carlos Garcia who was convicted by the court and subsequently dishonorably discharged from the service.
Garcia, a member of the PMA class of 1971, has a pending plunder charge before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan. Garcia is detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) national headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City. (AP/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (May 10, 2008 issue)
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