House probe begins today but mutineers expected to clam up

It will be a ho-hum affair.

The officers who led the July 27 mutiny are expected to keep their mouths shut in their first appearance before a House of Representatives hearing scheduled today.

One of their lawyers, Ruel Pulido, told a news forum yesterday that the rebel officers were advised to invoke their right to remain silent even at the risk of being cited for contempt by congressmen.

"The person can invoke his right to be silent (otherwise) they will incriminate themselves," Pulido said.

It will not be the first time they will be invoking the right, Pulido said, since the mutineers have earlier refused to testify before the Feliciano Commission and opted to present their sworn statements.

Even as today’s hearing at the House will be the second to be conducted by the committee headed by Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay, this will be the first time the accused officers — Navy Lt. Senior Grades Antonio Trillanes IV, James Layug; Army Capts. Gerardo Gambala, Gary Alejano and Milo Maestrecampo — will appear before congressmen.

Pulido said their appearance before the House committee will be completely different from the Senate.

Compared to the Senate inquiry last Wednesday where the officers were given ample time to spell out their grievances, Pulido said it will be a different scenario at the House.

"The Senate, the House of Representatives and the Feliciano Commission all have no authority to pass judgment on the case of these officers," he said.

Pulido said the officers are even willing to risk being cited for contempt for refusing to answer questions from the congressmen.

"Actually, that will be an advantage for the soldiers, for they will be taken out of the ISAFP (Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines) detention center and will be placed under House custody," Pulido said.

If he had his way, Pulido said he would advise them to talk openly before a civilian court but "not before a court-martial."

Likewise, the lawyer clarified that Trillanes and company never said the July 27 mutiny was "spontaneous."

"There is no inconsistency. If you would examine their testimony in the Senate, the only thing that they said were spontaneous were the time and place of the event," Pulido said.

‘DND: Trillanes cleared Reyes’

The Department of National Defense (DND) noted the inconsistencies in the statements, particularly of Trillanes, during the Senate inquiry.

In a statement, the DND pointed out Trillanes recanted his previous statement in tagging Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes behind the Davao City bombings in March and April.

"For the records, based on our evidence, we have no direct link. The Davao bombings have no direct link to Secretary Reyes," Trillanes told Sen. Loren Legarda during the hearing.

The group also implicated former ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus in the Davao bombings.

Trillanes admitted "deducing" the presence of Corpus in Davao when the bombing occurred.

He said the Magdalo group came up with the conclusion that ranking Armed Forces officials were behind the bombings based on the narration of Maestrecampo who claimed he was ordered to hurl grenades at a mosque in Davao City after the bombings.

Trillanes also failed to pinpoint the real mastermind of the bombings, the DND said.

"Whether the airport bombing (in March) was the (handiwork) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the point is, the ammunition or the explosives used there came from the government arsenal," Trillanes said.

Legarda, for her part, noted the seriousness of Maestrecampo’s claim that he was ordered to hurl grenades at a mosque.

"This allegation should not be left to go unchallenged or left hanging as it could undermine the lawful and moral foundation on which the Armed Forces of the Philippines is supposed to operate as protector, not only of the Republic, but of the Filipino people," Legarda said.

She noted Maestrecampo came short of naming the official who ordered him to hurl the grenades. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Bong Fabe, Paolo Romero