Rebellion raps filed vs Gringo, ‘Batasan 6,’ 42 others

Former senator Gregorio Honasan and 42½ other people, including former military rebels, rogue military officers, six left-leaning lawmakers and top communist rebel leaders were charged with rebellion yesterday by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly attempting a coup in February.

In his complaint with the Makati City regional trial court, Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco accused Honasan and the mutinous officers of conspiring with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to bring down the government and set up a junta.

"The rebels are less impelled by love of country, thinking lust of power and they have become no better than mere terrorists to whom nothing, not even the sanctity of life, is allowed to stand in the way of their ambition," Velasco stated in his complaint.

Aside from Honasan, also charged were party-list lawmakers Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Teodoro Casiño, Satur Ocampo and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna; Vic Ladlad, executive director of Bayan Muna; and leftist activist Nathaniel Santiago.

Also charged were CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison, National Democratic Front (NDF) head Luis Jalandoni, NPA leaders Gregorio Rosal, Sotero Llamas and Fidel Agcaoili; former military rebels Jaka Malajacan and Felix Turingan, 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, Patricio Kumindang and lawyer Christopher Belmonte.

The charge against Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, Lt. Antonio Trillanes IV and nine others was sent back to the Philippine National Police (PNP), which recommended their prosecution, for further investigation.

Lim was sacked from his post as commander of the Army’s elite First Scout Ranger Regiment while Trillanes was involved in a 2003 mutiny attempt along with San Juan.

Malacañang assured Honasan yesterday that hew would get a fair trial and all his rights under the law protected if he will surrender to authorities and face the coup charges against him.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said there was nothing wrong if there were "secret talks" for Honasan to surrender as it has been the Arroyo administration’s policy to reach out to rebels as long as the need for justice "is not compromised."

"We are extending the hand of communication to communist rebels and others so why not to government detractors?" Ermita asked.

Presidential chief of staff Mike Defensor also urged Honasan to "come out and face the music" as he is no longer in a posiiton to bargain with the government for any concessions.

Honasan and his military cohorts allegedly drew up a plan in alliance with the communist rebels to be carried out from 2003 to 2005.

It allegedly called for the CPP and the NPA to expand their decades-long insurgency to the political front using mostly left-leaning organizations as cover.

Among the organizations were Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Gabriela, Pamalakaya, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Kadamay, League of Filipino Students, Kaguma, Courage and Armas.

"In time, they claimed to have grown to 128 guerrilla fronts that cover 8,000 barrios and significant portions of some 700 to 800 municipalities and cities in more than 90 percent of the provinces nationwide, 50 percent in Luzon, 20 percent in Visayas and 30 percent in Mindanao," said Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza Jr. in the complaint.

Mendoza is the deputy director of the PNP’s directorate for investigation and detective management.

"This three-year program for expanding and consolidating the NPA has been extended by its political bureau by another year to 2006 in order to provide ample time for the NPA and other revolutionary forces to fulfill the targets of their program," he said.

Honasan was a cashiered Army colonel who led several coup attempts against Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s.

He was granted amnesty after forging a peace settlement with the government during the administration of Fidel Ramos. Honasan first ran for senator and won in the 1995 mid-term elections. In 2001, he won a second term but was good for only three years.

Honasan went into hiding after he was implicated in the reported coup plot to topple President Arroyo last February.

On Feb. 24, Mrs. Arroyo issued Proclamation 1017, declaring a weeklong state of national emergency to counter a "tactical alliance" among rogue military officers, communist rebels and elements of the political opposition to topple her.

However, her crackdown on street protests, political enemies and on media organizations critical of her administration drew rebukes from civil libertarians as well as from the international community.

Mrs. Arroyo lifted the emergency declaration a week later following concerns that she was emulating draconian measures used by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Mrs. Arroyo has been under intense political pressure since last year after admitting impropriety in phoning an independent election official before Congress had declared the winner of the May 2004 vote.

But she has denied trying to cheat and pledged to complete her six-year term through to 2010.

The political crisis — the worst to hound Mrs. Arroyo since she came to power — has sparked fresh fears of a military intervention to resolve the political impasse.

The Philippines is no stranger to coup attempts and rumors of instability after the popular revolts that toppled presidents Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001.

The Arroyo administration routinely warns of destabilization plots by opposition forces loyal to Estrada, the opposition’s de facto leader whom Mrs. Arroyo replaced in 2001.

— With Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica