5 junior officers from Visayas axed

BACOLOD CITY — Five junior military officers assigned in the Visayas have been relieved from their respective posts after they were found to have links with the July 27 mutineers, Maj. Lyndon Sollesta, spokesman for the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, confirmed yesterday.

Sollesta said Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Alcasid, 3rd Infantry Brigade (IB) commander, issued the relief orders pending an investigation.

Among those ordered relieved was 1Lt. Charlie Banaag (PMA Class ‘99), 11th IB Alpha Company commander based in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, who voluntarily went unescorted to 3rd ID headquarters in Jamindan, Capiz last Sunday to clear his name.

Col. Gregorio Fajardo, 11th IB commanding officer, confirmed yesterday that there was an order for Banaag to explain his alleged link to the mutineers.

The four other military officers being investigated were identified as Capts. Sandy David and Randy Pedroso, both PMA Class ’95, 1Lt. Alan Margarata, PMA Class ‘99, and 2Lt. Romeo Celis, PMA Class 2000.

David and Margarata are members of the 78th Infantry Battalion stationed in Cebu, Celis is assigned with the 15th Infantry Battalion in Bohol while Pedrosa commanded the 87th Military Intelligence Company, all military units under the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

As this developed, a statement purported issued by a group calling itself "Magdalo Rebel Group-Negros," congratulated the mutineers for "their patriotic act in the pursuit of reform in the government, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

A spokesman for the group, Capt. Robert Calderon, said the mutiny staged by their comrades "was a high point of selflessness and heroism."

In an open letter issued to media here, Calderon said the historic day of July 27 was only a beginning.

"This great day has emboldened us that we, the patriotic junior officers and members of the AFP/PNP and CAFGU (Citizen’s Armed Forces Geographical Unit) in Negros, are highly inspired to organize ourselves, and be a part of this great national movement for reform against corruption and other evils in the government, and in the AFP and PNP," he said.

However, Col. Jeffrey Sodusta, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, downplayed the existence of the group saying anybody can claim being among the mutineers.

The military here denied Calderon is in their roster of officers assigned in Negros.

They said all officers and servicemen assigned in Negros have been accounted for.

Cebu-based Navy Lieutenants Senior Grade Anchie Diola and Allan Uy, both members of PMA Class ‘95, had earlier claimed that several military junior officers in Negros, Bohol, Panay and Cebu islands had committed themselves to the cause and were ready to move anytime.

Instead of moving in, Diola said he told his fellow junior officers to calm down but "be on alert and ready to move anytime."

The situation is also being exploited by communist rebels who are eyeing to recruit the rebel soldiers in their ranks.

Aside from the mainstream Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), two other breakaway communist rebel groups have ordered their respective cadres and activists to organize underground revolutionary cells among the ranks of restive junior officers and young soldiers.

The underground Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP), which observed its first founding anniversary early this month, said the act of mutinous soldiers belonging to the Magdalo revealed that the country’s "reactionary system is on the edge of convulsion."

"The situation has become favorable for revolution," said the PMP in its anniversary statement. "This is a golden opportunity for the revolutionary movement to organize among the ranks of the reactionary army," said the PMP.

"We must take advantage of the popular sympathy generated by the Magdalo Group’s rebellion, and unite the people and the soldiers for revolutionary change."

Another group, the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines (MLPP), with its armed wing, the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan (RHB), said that the Magdalo Group’s "cause finds some identities with the aspirations of the people to liberate themselves from (the) ruling system."

"The factional bickering among the country’s ruling class is intensifying and the extra-constitutional challenges to the Arroyo regime have not ceased despite the nearing elections," the group said. - With Benjie Villa