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Court martial drops mutiny raps vs 11 of 28 officers

By Mario J. Mallari

10/16/2009

The court martial panel trying the case of mutiny against 28 military officers led by Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim has given merit to a defense lawyer’s motion and ruled to dismiss the charge against 11 of the presently detained officers.

According to Lim’s media officer, Alan Tanjusay, the military court martial had issued a ruling yesterday, unanimously finding merit in the motion that had been filed earlier on by Atty. Vicente Verdadero, the lawyer of Lim and 15 other military officers accused of planning to stage a coup against the Arroyo government in February 2006, calling for the dismissal of the case due to the prosecution’s alleged failure to present evidence to support the charge against his clients.

The court martial panel, however, had ruled to drop the charge “initially” against only 11 of the accused military officers as it apparently was still weighing its decision to render the same ruling on the other accused men.

It is set to issue another resolution for the rest of the accused soldiers on Oct. 27.

Those with whom the charge was dropped were Col. Januario Caringal and Major Francisco Fernandez of the Marines, and Lt. Colonels Nestor Flordeliza and Edmundo Malabanjot, Captains Ruben Guinolbay, Frederick Sales, Allan Aurino, 1Lieutenants Ervin Divinagracia, Jacon Cordero, Sando Sereno and Richiemel Caballes of the Army Scout Rangers.

With the ruling, the trial judge advocate will be rendering a report to Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado and seek his signature on the release papers of the accused mutineers.

Previously, Verdadero had filed a motion before the Special General Court Martial No. 2 seeking the dismissal of the case, claiming that the prosecution had failed to provide the required “elements” to back its charges of “attempted mutiny” against his clients.

In raising the argument, the defense lawyer cited the definition of attempted mutiny under the United States Manual for Courts Martial, where the AFP’s own Manual for Courts Martial was patterned after.

The manual explicitly states that for the charge of attempted mutiny to become legit, four basic elements must first be in attendance, namely: That the accused has committed a certain overt act; that the act was done with specific intent to commit the offense of mutiny; that the act amounted to more than mere preparation; and that the act apparently tended to effect the commission of the offense of mutiny.

“With the above definition of attempted mutiny (being used) as a yardstick, the evidence of the prosecution does not sustain the charge of attempted mutiny. A single overt act shown in the prosecution evidence can not be considered as constituting an attempt to commit mutiny.

“The testimonies of witnesses for the prosecution and their documentary evidence talk nothing but ideas, plans and discussions among some of the accused but they did not mention or describe how any one of the accused did perform any overt act that could be considered as an attempt to bring into fruition those alleged ideas, plans and discussions,” Verdadero, who, aside from Lim, also represented Flordeliza, Malabanjot, Maj. Leomar Jose Doctolero, Captains Sales, Montano Almodovar, Isagani Criste, Joey Fontiveros, James Sababan, Dante Langkit and William Victorino Upano, and 1Lieutenants Divinagracia, Sereno, Cordero, Caballes and Homer Estolas, had stated in his motion.

“As borne by the prosecution’s own evidence, General Lim, Captain Almodovar, Captain Sababan, Captain Criste, Captain Fontiveros, Captain Upano and Captain Langkit did not commit any act, overt or otherwise,” Verdadero further stressed.

Menawhile, Verdadero said his other clients were only mentioned or adverted to in some documentary exhibits of the prosecution and in some testimonies.

“The accused, as the honorable court may take judicial notice of, have been in jail for more than three and a half years already. Many of them have suffered the deaths of their loved ones while in detention. They all respectfully pray this honorable court to dismiss the charge against all of them considering that the evidence of the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” he had said.

Among the witnesses presented by the prosecution were former AFP chiefs Generoso Senga and Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and former Navy chief Mateo Mayuga, who all provided testimony re-enforcing the charge of coup d’etat against the 28 officers.

Lim, along with 27 other officers of the AFP, including former Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, were charged with violation of Article of War 67, or attempting to create or begin, excite, cause or join a mutiny for allegedly planning to stage a “bloodless uprising” against the Arroyo administration in February 2006 by joining protests against the government then that were being held by various anti-administration civil society groups on Edsa.