A military court on Tuesday cleared seven military officers of the mutiny charges filed against them for the alleged plot to overthrow the Arroyo administration in February 2006.
In its resolution, the seven-member military panel said the testimonies of the witnesses presented by the prosecution failed to support arguments that the seven violated Article 67 (mutiny or sedition) of the Articles of War.
Those cleared were: Col. Orlando de Leon; Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon; Lt. Belinda Ferrer; Maj. Jose Leomar Doctolero; Capt. William Upano, 1Lt. Homer Estola, and Recently retired Lt. Col. Achilles Segumalian.
Except for Doctolero, Upano and Estola who are Army officers, the rest are with the Philippine Marines.
With the decision, the officers, except for Segumalian, would be reinstated to the service.
At present, the officers are in the custody of their superiors.
Meanwhile, proceedings for their nine co-accused will continue. The military court, in the same resolution, denied their motion to reconsider its earlier decision to reject a plea to dismiss the case against them.
Those who remain charged are: resigned Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim; former Marine Col. Ariel Querubin; Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda; Maj. Jason Aquino; Captains Montano Almodovar; Isagani Criste; Joey Fontiveros; James Sababan, and Dante Langkit.
Querubin and Parcon are both recepients of the Medal of Valor, the military's highest combat recognition.
Both Lim and Querubin, meanwhile, failed to secure Senate seats during the May 10 elections.
Mixed reactions
Defense lawyer Trixie Angeles had mixed reactions on the decision. Although she was delighted with the acquittal of some of her clients, she lamented that her other client, Aquino, still remained uncleared.
She maintained that Aquino could not have committed mutiny by merely planning the same over a drinking session.
"Halimbawa may planning session nang uminom sila ng beer, imposible pa rin na mutiny iyon dahil hindi sila nag-aklas, wala silang baril, wala silang chinallenge, wala silang insubordination. Meron sila, ang pag-inom ng beer," Angeles said.
She said if having a drinking session is construed as an act of mutiny, then "more than 90 percent of the Philippine population should be jailed."
Angeles said Aquino should have been already cleared of any participation in the alleged coup plot because the prosecution failed to prove that the Army officer had a PowerPoint presentation supposedly detailing the uprising during the said drinking session.
"Wala namang na-produce... Hindi ko kayang matanggap na mutiny ang makikipag-inuman ka sa mga kasama mo tapos may nag-fa-flash na PowerPoint sa likod," she said.
"Assuming na umuwi sila [after the drinking session] at natulog at walang nangyaring mutiny. So paanong magkakaroon ng mutiny," she added.
Angeles said the defense will present additional evidence when the proceedings resume. However, she stressed that at this point of the hearing, the prosecution has the burden to prove the guilt of those accused.
She added that of the 15 witnesses presented by the prosecution, only one identified Aquino as being in the said drinking session.
Angeles questionned the credibility of the lone witness who implicated her client, saying the witness "lied in court" in exchange for promotion.
"Ang buong kaso kay Major Aquino ay ibinase sa isang witness na iyon na umaamin sa kanyang peers na after niya mag-testify ay binigyan sya ng prmotion ni [then AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes] Esperon," she said. — with Mark Merueñas/RSJ/VVP
