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A Philippine court on Tuesday sentenced two junior Army officers to
life in prison for their part in a failed coup against President
Gloria Arroyo in 2003.
Seven other officers involved in the plot were
given jail terms of up to 12 years, the court said. All nine
belonged to the so-called Magdaló group of junior military
officers. They had been on trial for more than five years.
Army Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo
Maestrecampo, who were among several ringleaders, stood silently and
showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down by Judge Oscar
Pimentel of the Makati Regional Trial Court.
Pimentel meted life terms or up to 40 years in
prison on Maestrecampo and Gambala.
Captains Albert Baloloy, John Andres and Alvin
Ebreo; and Lieutenants Lawrence Luis Somera, Florentino Somera,
Christopher Brian Yasay, and Cleo Dongga-as were sentenced to six to
12 years’ imprisonment.
Malacañang welcomed the court ruling, saying
the verdict would serve as a deterrent to future destabilizers and
coup plotters.
Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said
they respect the court ruling, which, he added, was “rendered
under due process.”
“Those who committed crimes against the
government and the Filipino people must pay the price for their
anarchic action. We hope they learned their lessons well,” Golez
said in a statement.
All nine will remain in military custody pending
the 15-day period given by the court for them to file an appeal.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines declined to
comment on the judgment saying the decision was not yet final and
executory.
It will be “speculative” for the military to
comment on the verdict, said Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, the chief
of the Office of Public Information.
The nine were among 31 officers who had changed
their plea to guilty last week after earlier denying the charge.
It was unclear why they changed their plea, but
press reports have suggested they may have entered into a deal with
the government.
Bacarro said there was no agreement between the
military and the nine Magdalós in connection with the officers’
change of plea from not guilty to guilty.
He added that the military has not yet tackled
the issue of pardon, particularly the possibility of endorsing to
the President that she grant them executive clemency.
When asked if the nine officers deserve pardon,
Bacarro said it is beyond the military to determine so.
The Magdaló group led some 300 soldiers in
taking over a luxury apartment-hotel in Makati City and calling on
President Arroyo and her top generals to step down over alleged
corruption.
The nine mutineers were also among 31 military
officers and men who were earlier recommended to be dishonorably
discharged from the military service for their involvement in the
July 27, 2003 uprising for violating Articles of War 96 (conduct
unbecoming an officer and a gentleman).
The rebellion was put down in less than 24
hours, and all ringleaders were arrested and detained.
Mrs. Arroyo subsequently freed most of the
enlisted personnel, saying they were only duped into joining the
rebellion.
The group has drawn a certain amount of public
sympathy.
One of the ringleaders, ex-Navy Lieutenant
Antonio Trillanes 4th, last year won a seat in the Senate while
campaigning from behind bars.
In 2006, Mrs. Arroyo crushed another coup plot
and jailed at least two generals and several senior military
officers who had withdrawn their support for her over allegations of
corruption and vote-rigging.
Lawyer Hortensio Domingo, who served as the
counsel of the nine officers, presented a certification issued by
Capt. Federico Amboy Jr., commander of the Army Custodial Unit, that
all the accused were accorded the treatment as convicted prisoners
since 2003.
Pimentel said the court found the officers
guilty of the crime of coup d’etat based on evidence presented by
the prosecution.
“The prosecution was able to establish beyond
reasonable doubt that all the accused committed the crime of coup
d’etat under Article 134-A of the Revised Penal Code with Captain
Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo being leaders while the rest
are mere participants,” his ruling stated.
The prosecution had presented 22 witnesses,
including former Armed Forces chief Efren Abu.
Assistant State Prosecutor Richard Anthony
Fadullon, head of the panel of prosecutors in the case, said the
ruling caught them by surprise. According to him, they recommended
lighter penalties for the nine officers when they changed their plea
to guilty during last week’s hearing.
The court had granted the petition for bail of
the officers four years ago except for the core leaders but they
remained in detention since they still faced charges before a
court-martial.
The prosecution earlier recommended 17 to 20
years’ imprisonment for Gambala and Maestrecampo and 10 to 12
years for the remaining seven.
Fadullon said the verdict would dispel notions
that the accused had entered into an agreement with the prosecution
for lighter sentences.
State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera, who managed
to confer with the convicted officers at the personnel office of the
court while they were waiting for a copy of the decision, said the
officers feel “relieved” at the decision.
Senator Trillanes and the rest of the 31 accused
junior officers did not join the nine officers’ change of plea.
This was the reason why Pimentel did not hand out the sentence for
Trillanes and the others, who will continue presenting their
defense.
Defense lawyers Reynaldo Robles and Ernesto
Francisco had said the action of the nine should not have an effect
on the rest of the accused, but the prosecutors said they believed
otherwise.
In late 2004, the group of Maestrecampo and
Gambala apologized to the government for the mutiny.
They later issued another statement expressing
support for the Arroyo administration—one that did not sit well
with Trillanes’ group and apparently caused a split in the group.
-- Angelo S. Samonte, Jefferson Antiporda, Jayson Cruz Luna and
AFP
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