AFP chief could take stand vs coup leaders

Military lawyers plan to present Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon as witness against Army and Marine officers facing court-martial for their alleged part in the failed coup last Feb. 24.

Quoting the Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAGO), Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, AFP public information chief, said there is no legal impediment for Esperon to take the witness stand.

"Base dun sa pagaaral ng aming abogado, ito ay maari nyang gawin at gaya ng nasabi niya ito ay kanyang gagawin kung kinakailangan," he said.

Esperon is a very vital witness who could narrate the events that took place inside the AFP general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo on the night of Feb. 23, eve of the purported plot by some military officers to withdraw support from President Arroyo, he added.

Bacarro said it would not be prejudicial to the results of the military court proceedings even if Esperon has the authority to convene the general court-martial because he was the Army commanding general when the alleged coup took place.

"Gaya ng nabanggit ko may pagaaral na isinagawa ang ating mga abogado rito, isipin natin na nung nangyari yung nasabing insidente si General Esperon was then the commanding general of the Army at sa paglipas ng panahon sya ay naupo bilang chief of staff so nakita nila na wala itong legal impediment o hindi ito magiging prejudicial (sa kaso)," he said.

In an earlier interview, Esperon said the trial of the military officers will start next month, after a review of the results of the pre-trial probe which was submitted to him last Wednesday.

"I want to expedite the review, but I don’t want to sacrifice thoroughness in the interest of fairness and justice... within November we will be seeing court-martial if the review would result to that," he said.

Esperon said that the results of JAGO’s pre-trial investigation has to be reviewed by the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA), who serves as legal adviser to the AFP top brass.

As a matter of policy, the results of the pre-trial investigation should be subject to review by the SJA, which would make another recommendation, for the final approval of the chief of staff, he added.

Esperon has the authority to convene the military court to try officers and men of the AFP, who have been charged with violations of the Articles of War.

Led by Col. Al Perreras, the pre-trial investigation was conducted on 38 Scout Ranger and Marine officers for alleged violation of Articles of War 65 (willful disobedience of superior officer), 67 (attempting to begin or create mutiny), 96 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman) and 97 (conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline).