Court-martial of Magdalo mutineers postponed indefinitely

Court-martial proceedings against more than 100 junior military officers charged with taking part in the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 were postponed indefinitely after the accused officers dismissed their civilian counsel.

A group of the accused Army officers made known their intent to dismiss Ruel Pulido as their defense counsel in a letter addressed to the lawyer along with a copy furnished to the General Court-Martial (GCM) yesterday.

In a one-page letter, the group led by Army Sergeants Dante Bulawan and Michael Llamas formally informed the GCM that they were terminating the services of Pulido.

"We regret to inform you that we are now releasing you from any obligation and responsibility in representing us before the GCM," the group told Pulido.

The 11 Army troopers were among the 67 junior military officers and enlisted men who appeared in yesterday’s resumption of the court-martial proceedings at Camp Aguinaldo.

In releasing Pulido as their counsel, the group was apparently able to cut a deal with military prosecutors. They earlier declared their desire to go back to the service and submit themselves to the chain of command for the resolution of their military cases.

"It is a painful decision for us to release you but we believe that it is the most sensible action now for our best interest. We are fully submitting to the Philippine Army and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) hierarchy for the resolution of our case," the group informed Pulido.

The group added: "We have full confidence in the chain of command and all these things will be resolved in the proper forum and under the auspices of our senior officers."

The military court said the move by the accused soldiers was to allow prosecutors to review their evidence and witnesses. The trial was postponed in September last year.

"If we don’t consolidate, there will be repetitions in the presentation of witnesses and evidence," prosecution spokesman Col. Pedro Herrera-Davila told reporters.

Davila said the trial would be rescheduled once all legal issues are resolved, including the consolidation of all the cases faced by the accused.

"Today’s (yesterday’s) hearing will not be held. Instead the trial would be rescheduled by the military board in order to allow the prosecution and the defense to arrive at a mutually accepted arrangement, since we are discussing the possibility of consolidating three separate cases filed before this court," he said.

According to Davila, Magdalo leader Navy Lt. Sgt. Antonio Trillanes IV and his group are facing separate military charges and this is the reason why the prosecution is now trying to consolidate the charges.

For his part, Pulido said the defense would oppose any move to consolidate the cases of the clients.

"We have already expressed our decision that we will oppose the consolidation," Pulido said.

The military court did not set a new date for the resumption of proceedings.

The soldiers were the third group of the accused Army soldiers to have dumped Pulido as their civilian counsel.

Asked to comment on the decision of the 11 Army accused soldiers, Pulido refused.

"I cannot comment on that because they were my former clients," he only said.

In October last year, Magdalo core leaders Army Captains Milo Maestrecampo and Gerardo Gambala dumped Pulido as their lead defense counsel.

Last February, another Magdalo leader Capt. Alvin Ebreo junked Pulido as his counsel after being detained in isolation.

Pulido has been linked by military intelligence authorities to a supposed ultra-right and communist plot to bring down the Arroyo government.

Military intelligence authorities also accused Pulido of conniving with former President Joseph Estrada to help the disgraced leader stage a comeback.

One of the accusations was that Pulido pocketed the P1 million donation he got from the Saludo Sa Kawal Foundation, intended to help the detained Magdalo soldiers.

Pulido has since denied the allegations and in one of his media interviews, he even displayed the money intact at his office.

Pulido had led the defense of 300 junior officers and enlisted personnel who took over the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center in Makati City on July 27, 2003 in protesting President Arroyo and calling for her resignation.

The group rigged the area with bombs and deployed snipers in a tense standoff that lasted for nearly 24 hours.

Eventually they returned to barracks and were detained. But Mrs. Arroyo later freed most of the enlisted personnel whom she said had just followed orders.

Last month, Mrs. Arroyo said she quashed an alleged coup plot hatched by officers and communist rebels in league with opposition politicians. — With AFP