ISAFP invites Dennis Roldan  as inspirational speaker

A kidnapping suspect, former Quezon City congressman and actor Dennis Roldan, was invited as inspirational speaker before a hundred assembled military intelligence agents at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) at Camp Aguinaldo.

Sources revealed Roldan was invited to give an inspirational speech before the ISAFP men during a flag-raising ceremony last Monday.

Roldan, a self-confessed pastor, spoke before the assembled military spies as well as the unit’s non-uniformed personnel, briefly telling stories about his colorful life and maintaining his innocence in the kidnapping case filed against him before the Pasig City regional trial court.

Military officials have ordered an internal investigation to determine who should be held liable for the incident.

“I have yet to get their explanation,” said Rear Admiral Leonardo Calderon, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief for Intelligence (J2).

Calderon has ordered the investigation into Roldan’s presence and directed ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Arsenio Arugay to explain why the kidnap suspect, who is still on trial, was allowed to speak before his men.

Arugay, for his part, claimed this happened without his permission. He claimed he had already ordered the relief of Maj. Fernando Siscar, ISAFP chief of personnel, who invited Roldan to share religious inputs. It turned out Roldan was Siscar’s buddy in a Bible study gathering.

“I didn’t know that Roldan was invited. I immediately reprimanded Siscar and relieved him of his post. That is the way we reprimand our men,” Arugay said.

Arugay assured that the military will continue to adhere to higher norms of moral values and the issues involving decorum and morality.

Now a self-confessed pastor, Roldan, Michell Gumabao in real life, was tagged as the brains behind in the kidnapping for ransom of a three-year-old boy in Pasig City on Feb. 9, 2005.

Roldan is out on bail while his kidnapping case is being heard by the Pasig City court.

An official revealed Roldan, after leading a prayer, took the opportunity to defend himself and claim he is innocent of the charges against him.

Anti-kidnapping crusader, Teresita Ang See of the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order and Citizens’ Action Against Crime and Corruption, expressed concern over the incident and urged the ISAFP to explain.

“Ano ba yan? It is an insult to our flag and to the Filipino people,” Ang See said, adding that the ISAFP owes the Filipino people, especially victims of kidnappings, an explanation for what she called a “humiliating event.”

Ang See said their group is planning to send a formal letter to Arugay, calling on him to explain the incident.