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By Anthony Vargas Reporter
THE military leadership could
still revise the seven-year prison sentence of 54 junior military
officers who were convicted for involvement in the 2003 Oakwood
mutiny.
On Wednesday a court-martial
convicted the officers who pleaded guilty to conduct prejudicial to
good order and military discipline, a lesser offense than mutiny
which carries a penalty of life imprisonment.
The Judge Advocate General’s
Office has sent the verdict to the Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen.
Hermogenes Esperon Jr., for review.
The Armed Forces spokesman, Lt.
Col. Bartolome Bacarro, said Esperon will determine if the verdict
is commensurate to the offense.
“The sentence of [the
court-martial] can be lessened, changed or upheld, but the guilty
verdict stays,” Bacarro told a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo on
Thursday.
“The determination of guilt is
up to the court . . . the chief of staff will study if the procedure
was followed and if the punishment is commensurate to the offense
committed,” he said.
After the review, the Armed
Forces chief will forward the verdict to the President, who is the
commander in chief, with the recommendation for the dishonorable
discharge of the officers.
“The President has the sole
authority to remove us [officers] from commission ship,” Bacarro
said.
The officers will be discharged
after their sentence ends on January 27, 2008.
The court has credited the nearly
four years the officers have served in detention and slashed three
years more from the sentence after the defense raised three
mitigating circumstances in the plea bargain.
The circumstances are: that the
officers surrendered after the failed mutiny; that they offered a
plea bargain and that they have been languishing in detention.
The 54 officers does not include
the 29 officers who reportedly led the short-lived mutiny, former
Navy officer, Antonio Trillanes IV, who is running for a Senate
seat.
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