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ARMED Forces Chief General Hermogenes Esperon is open
to the idea of recommending pardon to the nine military officers who
were sentenced to jail terms by a Makati City Court for their
involvement in the Oakwood mutiny.
“If I will be asked, I will
make a study, I will subject it to a study. If asked I will make my
recommendation,“ Esperon said.
The nine soldiers, who are all
part of the Magdalo group, included two core leaders: Captains
Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo. They were sentenced by Makati
Regional Trial Court Judge Oscar Pimentel to suffer reclusion
perpetua or 20 to 40 years imprisonment.
The other accused, Captains Alvin
Ebreo, Laurence Louis Somera, Albert Baloloy and John Andres, 1st
Lieutenants Florentino Somera and Cleo Dongga, and 2nd Lieutenant
Kristoffer Bryan Yasay were given prison terms from six to 12 years.
Esperon also refused to comment
when asked if the nine officers deserve to be given pardon. But he
said there are mitigating circumstances in their case, like when
they agreed to march back to barracks peacefully after the Oakwood
crisis.
At Malacañang, Presidential
Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol said the verdict on the soldiers
involved in the Oakwood crisis may affect the case of Senator
Antonio Trillanes 4th, who remains under trial.
“They admitted to the coup.
That admission is a big factor in the case and that could be
considered strong evidence against him [Trillanes],” Apostol said.
Apostol said he doesn’t want to
preempt the decision of the court that is hearing the case, which
involves Trillanes. But also added the court will likely hand down
the same verdict for the senator.
At the House of Representatives,
Speaker Prospero Nograles on Wednesday said “military adventurism”
must be discouraged” so soldiers who rebel against the government
will not suffer the fate of the nine soldiers.
“Criticisms and insinuations
that mock our justice system is uncalled for and [is] a great
disservice to our democratic system,” Nograles said, adding the
stiff prison terms meted by the court on the nine soldiers should
discourage future military adventurism.
However, Nograles lauded the nine
Magdalo soldiers for being “man enough” to accept the
consequences of their actions after they changed their not guilty
plea to guilty.
“When they laid siege on Oakwood,
they were all over the media saying that they are prepared to face
the consequences of their actions. That’s exactly what the nine
soldiers did,” he said.
--Jefferson Antiporda, Jomar Canlas And Angelo S. Samonte
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