Release of coup report timed with Bush visit?

Was the release of the Feliciano Commission’s report — allegedly done several days ahead of schedule — timed for the state visit of US President George W. Bush?

Rex Robles, one of the members of the fact-finding commission, said the release of the 148-page report on the mutiny was originally set on Oct. 15, but was moved to Oct. 22 in time for President Arroyo’s return from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

However, the members of the Feliciano Commission were "alerted" and summoned to Malacañang on Oct. 17 and asked to affix their signatures on the "signing page," according to Robles. The report was released the same day.

Robles told journalists at a weekly forum that the date of the release was moved to Oct. 22 "because President Arroyo was busy with the Bush visit and was also set to leave for the APEC meeting."

Bush visited Manila on Oct. 18 and Mrs. Arroyo left for Bangkok the following day.

While Robles did not explain why the release of the report was moved to Oct. 17, Homobono Adaza, another guest at the forum, said, "The release of the report was timed with the visit of Bush."

Adaza is the legal counsel of the young military officers and soldiers who staged the July 27 mutiny.

The Feliciano Commission conducted hearings and prepared their report on the mutiny in two and a half months, Robles said, noting that 80 percent of the time was "spent taking testimonies the whole day."

He added that the time they had to prepare their report was short compared to the time given to other fact-finding bodies created by the government, such as the Davide Commission, which was formed in 1990 to look into the 1989 coup attempt.

Robles is a former mutineer who participated in the 1989 coup attempt along with then Col. Gregorio Honasan.

Robles said former Supreme Court justice Florentino Feliciano, the head of the commission, edited out several sections he wrote for their report. These sections dealt with intelligence, national security, terrorism and a reconstruction of how a general can earn millions from a military transaction.

"I don’t know why these were omitted. However, it was decided that Commissioner Feliciano will be the one to edit the report," he said.

Robles, however, urged journalists at the forum not to jump to conclusions regarding the omission of these sections.

"Let us be fair and wait for our (commission members) final meeting within this week," he said.

The final meeting will serve as a "post-mortem" to discuss how the public and the media reacted to the report.

The members of the Feliciano Commission will also come up with their recommendations on the mandate and budget of commissions the government may create in the future.

Adaza, for his part, said he harbors no illusions about the Feliciano Commission’s report.

Mrs. Arroyo "created the commission, so it was no surprise that its results did not (stray far from) what the Palace wanted the results (to) look like," he said.

Adaza noted that while the report backed earlier government reports that the mutineers had support from several politicians, "the commission should have pinpointed and unmasked these politicians."

"Why should they spare the politicians? It only showed that there were no politicians involved," he said.

Judy Torrato, the wife of one of the detained soldiers, branded the report made by the commission as "just a show, a mockery, as all other investigations had been."

Torrato called on other soldiers detained for the alleged involvement in the July 27 mutiny, as well as their families, not to lose hope. She also said that copies of the Feliciano Commission’s report will be torn by the detained soldiers to show their opposition to the conclusions drawn by the panel.

Robles, however, appealed to the soldiers and their families to read the report or at least save some of the sections before they tear it up.

Last Oct. 17, the Feliciano Commission concluded that the July 27 coup attempt was rooted in corruption and politicization of the Philippine military.

In its report, the fact-finding commission warned that the Armed Forces "could implode and collapse with unpredictable consequences" if the causes are not addressed.

The panel also concluded that the action was part of a conspiracy to replace the government with a military junta.

The commission declared that the takeover of the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center condominium in Makati City by more than 300 junior officers was not spontaneous as the mutineers claimed but was clearly an attempt to seize power from the government.