December 3, 2007 · Posted in: Governance, In the News
A case of ‘rebellion’
SAYING that it was a “conspiracy and a mutual intention to overthrow the government,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the filing of rebellion charges against 36 military men and civilians involved in the Makati siege last week.
In a 10-page resolution, the DOJ four-man panel ordered that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, along with Brigadier General Danilo Lim and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., among others, be indicted for the crime of rebellion under Article 134 of the Revised Penal Code.
Read the DOJ resolution.
Under the law, the following constitute acts of rebellion:
(1) There is a public uprising and taking arms against the government;
(2) The purpose of the uprising or movement is:
a) to remove from the allegiance to said Government or its laws, the territory of Republic of the Philippines or any part thereof, of any body of land, naval or other armed forces, or
b) to deprive the Chief Executive or the Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives.
The DOJ panel said that the “act of rebellion” started from the moment Trillanes and the other mutinous soldiers walked out of their court trial last Thursday, later on joined by their civilian supporters in their march along Makati, forced their way to the Manila Peninsula Hotel, and together with their armed supporters, publicly denounced the government and called for the creation of a new government. (See related posts here and here.)
“Walking out of the court in the midst of trial and having themselves surrounded by armed men in public does not only display respondents’ contumacious act of disrespect to the court but also shows their open hostility against the government,” the DOJ said.
Further basis for the rebellion case is a handwritten escape plan of Trillanes and group from the Makati trial court. The DOJ said that notes found had the number of teams, the list of members, pre-designated positions, timeframe of strategic movement, distribution of firearms, primary routes, designated place to proceed from Makati City Hall, and rules of engagement if confrontation is imminent.
“The ‘escape plan’ clearly shows premeditated planning….This was hatched not only by the military respondents headed by Lim and Trillanes but also in coordination with the civilian respondents,” DOJ said.
DOJ also said that the civilians’ persistence in joining Trillanes and Lim at the hotel “only shows their concerted effort and intention to coalesce with them towards the attainment of common objective. Thus, their participation cannot be viewed as merely spontaneous and isolated, on the contrary, reveal a conspiracy and mutual intention to overthrow the government.”
It asserted that jurisprudence “dictates that conspiracy need not be shown by direct proof of agreement by the parties” to show that there was a deliberate agreement to commit rebellion.
Others who were charged with rebellion:
- Bishop Julio Labayen
- Father Robert Reyes
- Captain Gary Alejano
- Captain Segundino Orfiano Jr.
- Lieutenant Senior Grade Manuel Cabochan
- Lieutenant Senior Grade James Layug
- Lieutenant Junior Grade Arturo Pascua Jr.
- 1st Lieutenant Eugene Peralta
- Lieutenant Andy Torrato
- 1st Lieutenant Billy Pascua
- 1st Lieutenant Jonnel Sangalang
- ENS Armand Pontejos
- Atty. J.V. Bautista
- Atty. Argee Guevarra
- Francisco Nemenzo
- Jukius Mesa
- Cesar Yassir Gonzales
- Clecarte Dahan
- Private First Class Juanito Jilbury
- Private First Class Emmanuel Tirador
- Private First Class German Linde
- Myrna Buendia
- Dominador Rull Jr.
- Romeo Solis
- Roel Gadon
- Rommel Loreto
- Julian Advincula
- Francisco Bosi
- Leodor Dela Cruz
- Sonny Madarang
- Elizabeth Siguion-Reyna
- Francisco Penaflor
- and other John and Jane Does
Meanwhile, the following were released pending further investigation:
- Atty. El Cid Fajardo
- Herman Laurel
- Leonido Toledo Jr.
- Evangeline Mendoza
- Jose Albert
- Eduardo Castro
- Ferdinand Sandoval
- Julio Ancheta
- Stella Guingona
- Maamor Lanto
- Romeo Dacles
- Ryan Custodio
- Edgardo Viana
- Ray Linaac
- a certain Tulalay
The case against Navy Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, who remains at-large, is likewise set for further preliminary investigation. A hold departure order was likewise issued against the 50 individuals arrested on the day of the siege.
In 2006, 59 individuals were also accused of engaging in a Left-Right conspiracy to overthrow the government during the People Power anniversary. Members of leftist party-list groups, communist party leaders, and renegade soldiers were charged with rebellion, insurrection, and coup d’etat, all punishable with life imprisonment. In May that year though, a lower court excluded from the rebellion case five party-list representatives, known as “Batasan 5” — Bayan Muna Reps. Teodoro Casiño, Satur Ocampo, Joel Virador; Gabriela’s Liza Maza; and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis.
1 Response to A case of ‘rebellion’
jcc
December 5th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
The action of the DOJ to file the case of Rebellion against Senator-elect Antonio Trillanes and his group is appropriate but we look at it simply as a knee-jerk reaction from the government and a pure media treat.
As soon as the frenzy is over, expect some kid-glove treatment from the prosecution against these “Rebels” especially if the government can exact some horse-trading from these “Rebels”, like a promise that they will no longer participate in future destabilization or they are willing to do some “push-ups” as a punishment. Expect also that some of these participants will run for Senators next election.
Former President Joseph Estrada has been pardoned for his crime of “Plunder”. The crime of “Rebellion” has some historical mystic and allure in it because Filipinos were traditionally “rebels” against the Spaniards, Americans and the Japanese which makes kid-glove treatment more than justifiable in the latter offense. In fact Rebellion under the Revised Penal Code carries lighter prison terms.
But every attempt at military interventionism, brings instability and economic downturn. Investors tried to shy away from unstable governments for fear that if the upheaval is successful they might loose their investments through confiscation by the new regime because they will be perceived as the collaborators of the dethroned government unless they move fast enough to enlist the grace of the new regime. So the nation suffers at every military or civilian misadventure.
A successful civilian or military intervention will also short-circuit our civil institutions, which incidentally, are supposed to usher in peaceful and bloodless transition in our political life. This is not to say that the frailty of our institutions were brought about by these “Rebels”. They had been frail for so long because they had been occupied by local tyrants and dishonest people.
In my book, (“Termites from Within”), I have written:
The military mutineers were seen by some of us as heroes of EDSA. Others saw them as plain opportunists. These personalities were martial law implementors for 20 years who had seen the upsurge of civilian support for Cory and decided to abandon their commander-in-chief in a fast sinking ship. Instead of looking at these coup plotters as villains we see them as the saviors of the Republic. We elected some of them to high government positions and they continue to derive benefits from the very institutions they had subverted in favor of a Marcos one-man rule and from the
institution they tried to subvert in favor of a military junta. Coup plotters against Cory were punished with ten push-ups by her Chief of Staff, Fidel Ramos. The perception that most of those in power were guilty one way or another of subverting our democratic institutions prevented us from imposing the full measure of punishment to those who openly committed acts of treason and subversion against the republic. To our minds, only the members of the New People’s Army, the members of the Moro National Liberation Front and members of other left-leaning groups deserved to be punished by death. The most sinister plotters that had destabilized the nation and ruin our economy and the raiders and plunderers of our treasury do not deserve the kind of punishment meted out to other subversive elements of our society when in matters of degree, the latter wrongdoers have wrought more havoc and destructions to our motherland. This is the reason why after Mr. Marcos and his family had fled to Hawaii in 1986 and most of his kin and his retinue of crony capitalists had come back, we have yet to see them go to jail. Filipinos have short term memory and a very forgiving race. We do not know exactly whether it is our vice or our strength as Nation”.