Solons to Honasan: Flight a sign of guilt

Flight is proof of guilt.

House leaders made this observation yesterday as they urged Sen. Gregorio Honasan to come out of hiding and face the rebellion charges leveled against him for his alleged involvement in the July 27 mutiny.

Sources said formal rebellion charges will be filed today against Honasan, as principal accused, before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The calls were made by House Deputy Speaker Raul Gonzalez, Biliran Rep. Gerardo Espina, House committee on accounts chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, environment and natural resources committee chairman Rep. Eduardo Veloso, Bulacan Rep. Willie Villarama, Commission on Appointments member Rep. Clavell Martinez and ethics committee chairman and defense committee vice chairman Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo.

They said Honasan’s continued hiding fanned public uncertainty and contributed to the delay in the lifting of the state of rebellion declared by President Arroyo.

Gonzalez said, "Senator Honasan has been professing his innocence and, if this is really the case, there is no reason for him to go underground."

"He should be reminded of the legal principle that flight is seen as proof of guilt," Gonzalez added.

Honasan, as "an officer and a gentleman," should face the situation squarely, so that all concerned can settle the matter in a manner in which the "law is supreme," Gonzalez said. "After all, he is not lacking in able defenders in the Senate."

While Espina lauded Honasan’s choice to inhibit himself from the Senate hearing on the failed coup Friday, the Biliran lawmaker said Honasan should surface — if only to refute allegations he was involved in the mutiny.

Gunigundo said Honasan should remember that, being a senator, he ought to come out of hiding. "(Honasan) is no longer a private citizen, but an elected public official, and, as such, (he) should be the first to respect the rule of law."

Villarama said that Honasan’s detractors should also respect the due process of law and acknowledge that Honasan was granted general amnesty by the courts after he was charged with involvement in no less than seven failed coups against the administration of former President Corazon Aquino.

Honasan led the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan and Young Officers Union (RAM-YOU) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) when he was still a colonel of the Philippine Army.

He had been involved in the coup attempts against the Aquino administration from 1986 to 1989, including a siege that turned the commercial and business district of Makati City into a war zone.

Nothing to fear

Senate President Franklin Drilon also urged Honasan to come out of hiding so he can defend himself against the charges that he was involved in the mutiny.

"I think he should not fear that he would be arrested without a court-issued warrant even if the state of rebellion continues," Drilon told The STAR.

He said Honasan should rely on the assurance Drilon obtained from several administration officials that Honasan would not be arrested without warrant.

The Senate president obtained the commitment from Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz, Local Government Secretary Joey Lina, and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Honasan has basis to fear a warrantless arrest. "It happened to Eki (Ramon Cardenas). It can happen to Greg (Honasan)," he said.

He said Cardenas, a former deputy executive secretary of ousted President Joseph Estrada, was detained without a warrant on the night of July 27.

"He was arrested by the CIDG (PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) several hours before NBI agents raided his house (in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City), where firearms and other evidence against him were supposedly seized. It was a case of the cart pulling the horse," he said.

Lacson pointed out that besides the Cardenas case, another basis for Honasan’s fears of a warrantless arrest was the fact that the two opposition senators were rounded up, without warrants, along with several other opposition leaders shortly after the bloody Labor Day attempt by Estrada loyalists to overrun Malacañang in 2001.

In the wake of the failed takeover, the President had declared a state of rebellion and several opposition leaders were rounded up without arrest warrants.

Then senatorial candidates, Lacson and Honasan went into hiding and challenged their warrantless arrest before the Supreme Court.

Lacson said the high tribunal ruled in their favor and the two were eventually seen at an opposition miting de avance in Pasay City.

Lina assured senators during the first hearing of the Senate on the July 27 failed coup attempt last Friday that they would follow the due process rule. "We will first have to file charges against Senator Honasan and await the issuance of an arrest warrant by the court."

Lina said they have circumstantial and direct evidence linking Honasan to the aborted mutiny, a statement echoed by resigned Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus.

Corpus said he has evidence to show that Honasan was involved in the July 27 siege of the Oakwood Premier luxury apartments in Makati City by the Magdalo group.

The Magdalo group, composed of at least 300 young officers and enlisted personnel from the different service branches of the AFP, took its name from the minority faction of the Katipunan led by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.

Honasan’s reported moves to go underground indicate his guilt, Corpus said. "He knows he has done wrong."

Honasan did not show up in the Senate hearing last Friday. Honasan called Drilon Thursday to tell him he would not attend the hearing so people won’t say the inquiry is tainted with politics. Drilon said this was the last time he spoke with Honasan.

Meanwhile, PNP community relations chief Director Ricardo de Leon said the PNP "will always be ready" to implement the warrant for Honasan’s arrest once this is issued by the courts.

Honasan was last seen entering a communist-controlled village in Quezon province Friday night.

He is believed to be seeking refuge in his wife’s hometown of Sariaya and police sources said his trip to Quezon should not be misconstrued as a move to join the communist rebels.

"It is quite impossible that Ka Roger (communist Party of the Philippines spokesman Gregorio Rosal) will accept (Honasan). That would mean leftists and rightists meeting in the middle," De Leon said.

Malacañang challenged Honasan to come out of hiding to prove his innocence.

House defense committee chairman Prospero Pichay (Lakas, Surigao del Sur) will hold a meeting with all parties concerned to decide whether to postpone a House probe into the failed coup and allow case investigators to finish their work.

Pichay said he will consult with committee members and those who filed resolutions calling for an investigation into the July 27 mutiny as part of his constitutional duty to act on resolutions referred to his committee.

He added that the matter is not for him to decide alone as he noted the tumultuous start of the House investigation into the matter. — With Christina Mendez