Charges filed vs Honasan for Oakwood mutiny

The Department of Justice filed coup d’état charges against former senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan before the Makati City regional trial court (RTC) in connection with his alleged role in the July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny staged by the Magdalo soldiers in Makati City.

In a five-page complaint dated Jan. 18 this year but only filed yesterday, Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera recommended that Honasan not be allowed to post bail.

Aside from Honasan, the other military officers who were charged in the alleged coup d’état include retired colonel Ernesto Macahiya, retired captain Felix Turingan, a civilian named George Duldulao, retired colonels Virgilio Briones, Romeo Lazo, a certain Lina Reyes and several unidentified persons.

Dacera said Honasan and his co-accused retired military officers were among those who reportedly instigated junior military officers and enlisted men of the military to stage a coup d’état in Makati City.

"The undersigned state prosecutors of the Department of Justice hereby accuse the above-named individuals and several John Does and Jane Does of the crime of coup d’état defined under Article 134-A and penalized under Article 136 of the Revised Penal Code on or about July 27, 2003," Dacera said.

The Magdalo group also called for the immediate resignation of President Arroyo and the members of her Cabinet and the top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police "in order to seize and diminish state power."

Honasan was indicted for allegedly being the one who recruited the junior military officers and enlisted men belonging to the Magdalo group.

His controversial pamphlets — which described the "national recovery program" and outlined his proposed changes in the military, Philippine society and the government — were among the materials recovered by authorities in a raid on a house in Mandaluyong City allegedly rented by one of deposed President Joseph Estrada’s mistresses, former movie actress Laarni Enriquez.

Members of the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc., composed mostly of retired military officers, were also among those who were allegedly seen on July 27, 2003 at Oakwood in Makati to have expressed their support for the Magdalo soldiers.

Honasan is the founder of the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood.

During a Senate hearing on the Oakwood mutiny in 2003, a photograph showing Honasan allegedly making a blood compact with the Magdalo soldiers prior to the July 27 mutiny was presented by the military officials.