Our 17th Year of ‘STAR’ Trek

A chilling message from a hopeless ‘coup’ the rebels knew could not succeed

As of late last night, the "drama" in the center of Makati still hasn’t reached a denouément. Whether the Blitzkrieg "coup," an escapade really – it looked more like a cry of despair – ended in violence or a negotiated surrender is still not certain.

But one thing is already clear. The so-called "putschists,"a pathetic few hundred of them, while they insolently demanded that President Macapagal-Arroyo "step down,"and damned corruption among the higher officers and officialdom running the military, never hoped to succeed in toppling the government. They knew their military careers were "finished." They faced the possibility of dying. Why did they do it?

The defining moment of their coup "attempt" was, I believe, when, after occupying and planting bombs in the luxury Oakwood residential building which adjoins the Glorietta and fronts the Inter-Continental Hotel, and seeding the parking lot with additional bombs, they let all the occupants and residents of the Oakwood go.

Among their short-term hostages was no less than the Australian Ambassador, Ms. Ruth Pearce, plus the Political Counselor of the Australian Embassy (due shortly to be rotated home), four Australian policemen here to help our Philippine National Police and military in anti-terrorist activities; the Second Secretary of the Embassy of Brunei; and four Canadian diplomats. Ambassador Pearce had been residing in the Oakwood while her official residence in nearby Forbes was being renovated. (Television News producer Nick Farrow of Nine Network Australia rang me up from Sydney at 5 a.m. yesterday to verify whether it was true their Ambassador had been taken "hostage,"and I was interviewed by overseas telephone by Nine Network newscaster Yanna Vent – hope I spelled it right – two hours later.)

The military rebels later in the day released the Ambassador unharmed, all the other diplomats, and the residents of Oakwood, so they could be bussed to safety across town to the Westin Hotel. The so-called "rogue officers" could have kept the diplomats and foreigners in their custody, to be used as "human shields" for their own protection. This ploy, though dastardly, would probably have frustrated any government plan to attack their positions with maximum force, or at least have given them a bargaining chip in negotiations with the GMA administration. But in an act of gallantry, the young rebel officers scorned taking advantage of this strategy and let their prisoners go, without even trying to extract any concessions for their freedom.

We can’t dub them heroes since they, indeed, betrayed their oaths to the Constitution and "rebelled" against duly-constituted authority. They were stubborn and somewhat askew in some of their demands. But I don’t think, neither do many others, that they had a political agenda, such as returning former President Joseph Estrada to Malacañang, or installing somebody else – whether one of their number, or Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, as President or Junta Leader. They obviously – and they surely realized this even before they set out – didn’t have the numbers to overwhelm the entire armed forces, as well as the police, and "invade" Malacañang. (And it was evident that "help" from units in the provinces wasn’t coming.)

The President, of course, gave them a deadline. She accused them of being on the fringe of being "terrorists", she warned them not to "drench" their uniforms with disgrace (a quaint choice of words), she directed them to "return to the barracks" she declared that if they didn’t surrender by 5 p.m., she would order Armed Forces Chief of Staff Narcisco L. Abaya to use "reasonable force" to put them down. (She dangled the carrot that – hint, hint – it might not be too late to save their careers.)

Once again, as I write, I don’t know what finally happened.

* * *

I do know that when the spokesman of the putschists, Navy Lt. (senior grade) Antonio Trillanes IV, (PMA ’95), was interviewed "live" by ANC/ABS-CBN, and was reiterating the complaints of his group, the television anchor broke in with the information that Defense Secretary Angelo T. Reyes was on the other line – and inquired whether Trillanes was willing to speak with him. An expression of distaste crossed the rebel’s handsome face and he categorically said, "No!" The TV newscaster inquired, "Why not?" Trillana replied this was because "we know him!" When the Navy officer who was articulate and, although youthful already a veteran fighter in the Mindanao campaigns, was asked to elaborate why he refused to speak to Reyes, he curtly replied: "Let’s leave it at that." He said that more would be said at a press conference his group would give later.

In the meantime, the Navy officer asserted that their gripes didn’t concern low pay and housing, which the government (he averred) kept trying to announce was their priority, but corruption in the military to the extent that bullets and weapons were, for years, being sold to rebels, and thus utilized by insurgents and terrorists to kill civilians as well as the soldiers for which they were intended.

In disgust he asked: "Why do you think the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with 10,000 men, has been able to go on fighting for so many years – where do they get their bullets and their weapons? From abroad? Or from here?" He condemned the "sale of bullets to the enemy" which, in turn, killed his fellow soldiers and civilians, too. As for weapons, when on operation (he recalled), he and his comrades could capture weapons from rebels and, upon checking their serial numbers, found they came from the Department of National Defense’s arms inventory.

Those are serious accusations. But, I’ve written the same things in this corner many times before. The last time was on May 12, 2003, in a column headlined: "The morale of our military suffers, if there’s rot above."

I’ll get back to the details of what I had alleged later.

Trillanes might be blowing wild in his next, but even more serious, charge. He accused the government and military itself of being behind the two murderous Davao City bombings (the airport and wharf). He pointed out that the 81 mm. mortar shell utilized in the major bombing was of government issue. As for the bombing of those mosques in Davao, Trillanes alleged, one of the fellow rebels had, in fact, been ordered to throw hand-grenades at the mosques concerned, and when he refused had been reprimanded. (The indication was that some other soldier finally did it.)

Why were they now demanding that President GMA step down? Trillana’s was a school-boy’s answer, literally a non-sequitur. He asserted that GMA had never tried to remedy the problems, such as who were really behind the Davao atrocities, the sale of bullets and guns to the enemy, and other sorts of corruption. He recalled that he, among others in his batch, went to Malacañang to dialogue with the President, strongly pushing their complaints and accusations. But GMA, the "coup" spokesman ranted, did absolutely nothing: "So GMA must be part of it!"

How can you contend with hotheaded idealists who are determined to nail, like Martin Luther at the Cathedral of Worms, their complaints on the church door? Or would-be martyrs? Aye, there’s the rub.

Of course, some of the officers who came out said that they have been misled. The military said it was Gringo Honasan who had influenced some of the rebels. Many of their leaders were at the top of their classes at PMA. Capt. Gerardo Gambale was the topnotcher of Class '95 and a Scout Ranger in Southern Mindanao. First Lieutenant Rex Bolo was class president of PMA Class '97. By the way, the wife of lst Lieutent Trillanes is a faculty member of PMA --- a graduate of Class '97 herself ---- Capt. Arlene Orejana. A niece of Eugene Orejana of ABS-CBN, she belongs to the corps of professors of PMA. One of the reputed leaders is Capt. Nilo Maestrecampo, a Scout Ranger.

If these boys become martyrs, the next putsch would be much bigger.

I pray that back-channeling on the part of one of their peers – one of them a Scout Ranger Captain specially flown in Baguio City by helicopter from the Philippine Military Academy (where he is teaching) – bore fruit. I’m referring to Captain Dennis Eclarin (West Point 1993) who fought with distinction as a Scout Ranger in the Mindanao Wars, including the assault on Camp Abubakar. Some of yesterday’s military putschists had been under Eclarin’s command, others were his friends, peers and batchmates. By the way, Dennis is the author of the handbook, the "Scout Rangers Combat Guide", whose updated 2003 edition is being published by us in The STAR, pending the nihil obstat of the AFP Chief of Staff, General Abaya.

Eclarin rang me up at 4 p.m. when he was already closeted in the Oakwood building, negotiating with the "rebels", who were, he reported, "do or die" – meaning they were ready to die. The rebels wanted to talk to me, he said. In the meantime, they wanted the President to extend the 5 p.m. deadline she had laid down. Could I talk to the President? That was the request.

There were four other young officers who had also been flown in from the PMA, also friends, batchmates and former comrades of the putschists – and were "inside" parleying with them. The five had been brought in by their PMA Superintendent, Maj. General Edilberto Adan himself, who had set up "shop" just outside the Oakwood to coordinate between the negotiations and Malacañang. Adan is one of the straight-shooters in our military (he’s due for his third star), who fought valiantly in Basilan and the rest of Mindanao as an Army brigade commander, and also fought the Kuratong Baleleng. Adan also rang me up yesterday to establish contact.

The rebels had absolutely refused to speak to the AFP leadership, particularly the top brass or the DND, saying they would "whitewash" everything.

Let’s hope, though, the negotiations with the younger officers, whom they respect, were ultimately successful.

(During the negotiations last night, the rebel group demanded the ouster of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes from the Cabinet as well as the removal of ISAFP head Col. Victor Corpus, who’s said to have caused the lives of many men, and of PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane.

(Erstwhile AFP Chief of Staff and now Ambassador Roy Cimatu who headed the negotiating team vowed to pursue these demands with the government.

(The rebels agreed on a graceful exit and return to barracks and reinstatement, which the negotiators would take up with the President through Execcutive Secretary Bert Romulo.)

As for the "state of rebellion", declared by the President, let’s hope too this is lifted shortly. No one can fault GMA for wanting this nightmare, coming on the heels of the al-Ghozi affair, to be over. Her own "deadline" is the State of Nation Address (SONA) she will be delivering this afternoon.

This will be The Longest Day for our Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief.

* * *

I know I’ve used up the space traditionally reserved on the front page of The Philippine STAR for the mandatory self-congratulatory pat-on-the-back to celebrate the 17th anniversary of this grand, old newspaper’s publication. At se-venteen years, we feel like we’ve already been on a long but exciting journey, a STAR "Trek" that will extend, hopefully, beyond this generation.

It’s monotonous to say We’re Number One, when not one but two other newspapers keep on boasting that they’re the ones. But Truth Will Prevail.

We thank all our readers and friends. And I thank all our editors, reporters, staffers, advertising, production, and other associates, in short, all our fellow STAR-trekkers, for having rocketed us to the farthest firmament in this enterprise.

And thank God, too, for His blessings, His care and protection.

I think that keeping on reporting what’s happening, and trying to dish out fair comment, is the best way of commemorating our 17th – and winging on to our 18th.

Now back to harsh reality.

I’m reprinting what I wrote in my column on Monday, May 12, 2003, to underscore what made many of the "rebels" so furious that they went virtually out of control. Sadly, their move hit our economy on the solar plexus, made our country appear shaky and politically precarious, and severely damaged our appeal as an investment haven.

Yet the rot has already gone further than what they, unfortunately, accomplished. When former President Estrada was suddenly transferred out of his detention quarters in the Veterans’ Memorial Hospital, when the convoy, led by an armored car, snaked its way out of the VMH, telecasters were unsure whether Erap would be brought to Camp Aguinaldo or to Camp Crame. Somebody exclaimed on radio-TV: "Sa Crame? Para makatakas si Erap?" (To Camp Crame, so Erap can escape?) Our former President, of course, was dumped into the custody of ISAFP in Camp Aguinaldo. Having been myself arrested by ISAFP in the first hours of Marcos martial law in September 1972, I know how he feels.

Anyway, here’s what this writer previously wrote:

". . . Many – even in our officer corps – are still wondering about the P1 billion – yep, one billion peso ISO fund released sometime in July 2000 by then President Joseph Estrada after a command conference in Malacañang. In sum, President Erap turned over P1 billion to the armed forces, to underwrite the ongoing offensive to capture the camps of the MILF, including the final bastion, Camp Abubakar.

"The AFP Chief of Staff at that juncture was now Secretary of National Defense (SND) General Angelo T. Reyes. The question is: What happened to the bulk of the money? From our reports, the major services – namely the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Air Force received only P48 million each. Was the rest of the fund, some P850 million, left to the disposition of General Headquarters (GHQ)? If so, what was done with that huge amount?"

However, let’s go straight to the bullets-and-weapons question.

"Let’s consider AMMO expenditures," this column added, "meaning the ammunition budget of each of the major services. The outlays involved are controlled by the GHQ. When the fund for ammunition is realigned for other purposes, our troops don’t get the ammo they need to battle the enemy.

"No wonder, as a couple of generals whispered to me last week, our soldiers often go into combat without periodic ‘familiarization’ firing.

"Sometime in the year 2000 (wasn’t Angie Reyes chief of staff at the time?), P160 million was allegedly diverted and ‘cleared’ for the retirement benefits of a ranking general. Who was this lucky ‘brass?’ (or should we say, brash fellow?)

"If our men are in action in some field of hot engagement and happen to run out of bullets while chasing Abus, or repelling MILF or New People’s Army attack, who should we blame? Such ‘diversions’ can cost the lives of good men.

"Perhaps the AFP Comptroller, AFP logistics command, and the COA (Commission on Audit) ought to account for AMMO expenditures over the past five years. It’s no surprise that when there are major combat operations being undertaken, the government frequently has to procure ammunition on an emergency or ‘rush’ basis from Thailand, South Korea, or elsewhere.

"The Americans are being asked to supply us with more equipment, and other military stuff. Do you know what makes them hesitate? . . . One guess."

There was much more, but you get my drift.

The rebel spokesman, Trillanes, had exclaimed on TV: "We’ve been fighting the Moro rebels now for 35 years, and yet the enemy has not run out of bullets!"

That’s a query which reverberates in our armed forces, I kid thee not.

After yesterday’s brief cri de coeuer of anguish, hopefully not ended in blood, there may still be a gathering storm.

President GMA has to heed this. After all, there’s still life after SONA. And the crises that go with it.

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