Admin congressmen to NTC: Shut down Faeldon website

Two pro-administration lawmakers asked the National Telecommunications Commission yesterday to shut down the website of renegade Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon to stop it from being used for anti-government propaganda.

Representatives Marcelino Libanan of Eastern Samar and Eduardo Veloso of Leyte said the government has to immediately step in when state security is being openly challenged.

Faeldon, who was recaptured by military intelligence agents in Malabon City last Friday night, is set to appear before the Makati City regional trial court today.

Judge Oscar Pimentel will be hearing the coup d’état charges against him and some 30 other junior military officers at the session hall of the old Makati City Hall, where security is expected to be tight.

Libanan said the government should not allow itself to be continuously taunted by Faeldon’s supporters even after his arrest.

"The government should immediately disable his website to stop his supporters from using it to inflame and misinform the people and the military," he said.

Libanan said the Armed Forces must immediately deploy a team of experts to investigate how Faeldon was able to create the website and how it continues to operate after his recapture.

"The four other mutineers were able to post their statement to continue Faeldon’s fight immediately after his recapture," he said.

"The only way to let them stop hurling insults and threats on the government is to make the website inoperative."

Veloso said someone had helped Faeldon put up his website and continues operating it despite his recapture.

"The question is who," he said.

"The investigation on this matter, if done properly by the AFP, will surely lead to the downfall of Faeldon’s conspirators and even financiers. We need to unmask these people and make them pay under the law," he said.

Veloso said Faeldon and other renegade soldiers should not be allowed to use the website as a propaganda tool to destabilize the government and brainwash the public.

"Why is the NTC and the DOTC not lifting a finger on the matter?" he asked. "Why did they allow Faeldon and his group to taunt the government? Openly challenging the government on the web is another crime the mutineers have committed, and they must pay under the law."

The government should also unmask the financiers and coddlers of renegade soldiers, Veloso said.

Military agents were able to "nip in the bud" efforts by a shadowy group to recruit junior officers into joining a coup against President Arroyo, the Armed Forces said yesterday.

Lt. Col. Tristan Kison, Armed Forces public information chief, said threats to destabilize the administration have remained despite the recapture of Faeldon.

"The threat is always there," he told reporters yesterday.

"There was intent but the group lacked the capability. We discovered the recruitment at an early stage but managed to nip it in the bud," he said.

However, Kison would not say whether Faeldon himself was part of a wider conspiracy to recruit junior military officers.

The Armed Forces is investigating reports that Faeldon and Capt. Candelaria "Candy" Rivas have started gaining support among military officers and soldiers.

"The counter-intelligence units are working on this," Kison said. "They have leads and they are working hard on this. In due time we will have positive results."

Rivas is the military prosecutor who was arrested with Faeldon in Malabon, whom the military claimed was his girlfriend.

However, Faeldon denied any romantic relationship with Rivas.

Their relationship, he said, was based on the "principle of (shared) values and beliefs," indicating that Rivas was sympathetic to the cause of the Magdalo group.

Kison said Rivas could be charged with violation of Articles of War 96 and 97 and coddling a fugitive, accessory to the crime of coup d’état, and violation of the code of ethics.

Rivas could also face disbarment because she might have revealed to Faeldon the military’s strategy in the prosecution of renegade soldiers before the Makati Regional Trial Court, he added.

Lawyer Nonilon Tagalicud, Makati RTC Branch 148 clerk of court, told The STAR Faeldon was not required to attend today’s hearing.

No additional charges have been filed against Faeldon, Tagalicud said.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday the next five months would be critical for the country’s political situation.

"I think it depends on the effect of this Faeldon capture," he said.

"It could inflame the minds of these renegade soldiers that the government, the long arm of the government will get them and therefore, they will be on a lie-low status.

"They will not move around too much or they could not be seen too much. On the other hand, it can have a different effect if they become desperate. If they become desperate they might do something more drastic than the propaganda statements that they are recruiting," he said.

Gonzalez added it is up to the Armed Forces brass whether to file charges against Rivas.

"It’s up to the military to prepare charges because, basically, these are articles of war problems," he said. "But if they charge her on the coup d’état (charges), then it’s us."

Faeldon escaped last month from military custody while attending his trial on coup d’état charges at the Makati Regional Trial Court.

Faeldon was caught in the company of Rivas, who was also taken into custody and may be charged with harboring Faeldon. — With reports from Cecille Suerte Felipe, Michael Punongbayan, Jose Rodel Clapano, AFP