40 Army, Marine officers to get lighter penalty if convicted

If convicted, 40 Army and Marine officers now charged with attempted mutiny for their alleged involvement in the Feb. 24 failed attempt to overthrow the government will get a much lighter punishment, according to a military lawyer.

Citing military jurisprudence, the lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said attempted mutiny carries a penalty two degrees lower than the actual mutiny charge.

Mutiny carries a death penalty if committed during wartime and life imprisonment during peacetime, he said.

Three senior officers — Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, Brig. Gen. Danilo and Col. Ariel Querubin — and several other officers are accused of plotting to overthrow President Arroyo in February.

The three have been relieved of their commands. Miranda headed the Philippine Marine Corps, Lim was chief of the Philippine Army’s elite First Scout Ranger Regiment and Querubin was a Marine brigade commander.

Several John Does are also facing several military charges filed by the Judge Advocate General Office (JAGO) for their alleged involvement in the coup attempt.

Lim’s civilian lawyer, Vicente Verdadero, disputed the charges. "We will prove that he didn’t do such act. There’s no mutiny… not even an attempt."

Verdadero claimed his client was actually instrumental in preventing a coup d’etat from happening.

Lim, Miranda and Querubin were relieved of their commands by then Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga for planning to join street protests against President Arroyo timed during the 20th anniversary of the 1986 ouster of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Mrs. Arroyo has been fending off accusations since last year that she cheated in the 2004 presidential election.

Lim headed the Army’s crack First Scout Ranger Regiment while Miranda was the commandant of the Marines. Querubin was a decorated veteran who led a Marine brigade based in the south.

They allegedly tried to convice Senga to join them but he refused and later ordered their arrest.

In February, Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of national emergency to quash a conspiracy between renegade military officers, communist rebels and their civilian political backers to take over the government and establish a junta.

Police are investigating the extent of the coup plot to see if more were involved. Several prominent businessmen allegedly helped finance the plot.

Aside from Miranda, Lim and Querubin, their other co-accused are Marine Cols. Orlando De Leon and Januario Caringal, Lt. Cols. Achilles Segumalain, Martin Villasan, Reynaldo Ocsan, Armando Banez, Valentine Hizon, Custodio Parcon and Romulo Gualdrapa, Maj. Francisco Domingo Fernandez and 1Lt. Belinda Ferrer;

Army Lt. Cols. Nestor Flordeliza, Edmundo Malabanjot, Majors Jason Laureano Aquino, Oriel Pangcog, Jose Leomar Doctolero and James Sababan, Capts. Ruben Guinolbay, Montano Almodovar, Joey Fortiveros, Isagani Criste, William Upano, Dante Langkit, George Malones, Allan Aurino and Frederick Sales, 1Lts. Homer Estolas, Jacon Cordero, Jerald Reyes, Ervin Divinagracia, Michael Cuarteros, Mario Bautista, Antonio Timbal and Sandro Sereno, and 2Lt. Richiemel Caballes.

The accused officers are currently undergoing a pre-trial investigation, which is one step from a court-martial. The JAGO will conduct the pre-trial investigation, which will determine if there is a basis for a court-martial.

The JAGO will submit its recommendation to the armed forces chief of staff, who will then call a court-martial if warranted.

JAGO deputy chief, Col. Al Perreras, admitted to The STAR that prosecuting Querubin and Parcon is new to them because they are both Medal of Valor recipients. "This is a test case for us," he said.

Several military lawyers, while stressing that the military’s highest award is no blanket excuse for committing a crime, see a difficult trial ahead for the prosecutors.

A Medal of Valor recipient is accorded such lifetime due respect and honor that even the president and commander-in-chief is required to salute him first, they explained.

President Arroyo has been under intense political pressure since admitting impropriety in calling an independent election official — believed to be Virgilio Garcillano — before Congress had declared the winner of the May 2004 vote.

She denies cheating in the election. Opposition groups have vowed to force her from office after she fought off an impeachment bid in September. They revived their bid to oust her with a series of impeachment complaints.

The political crisis has raised fears that the military might intervene to resolve the impasse.

The Philippines is no stranger to coup attempts and rumors of instability after popular revolts that toppled Marcos in 1986 and Mrs. Arroyo’s immediate predecessor, Joseph Estrada, in 2001.

Rogue elements within the military mounted seven coup attempts against Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s.

Earlier this month, six fugitive renegade officers from the so-called Magdalo group were nabbed in a police raid that inadvertently uncovered a suspected plot to seize the House of Representatives during Mrs. Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address.

The officers, who staged a failed mutiny in 2003, planned to hold lawmakers hostage and set up a junta.