‘Batasan 5,’ Joma, Gringo in new raps

The Department of Justice refiled yesterday a separate complaint of rebellion against exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison, former senator Gregorio Honasan, the leftist lawmakers known as the "Batasan Five" and 40 other people after the Makati regional trial court rejected the DOJ’s motion to merge the charges with those faced by Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran and renegade Army 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan.

Before recusing herself from the case, Judge Jenny Lind Delorino ruled that the government could not amend the charges against Beltran and San Juan to include Sison, Honasan, the Batasan Five and 40 others because this would violate legal procedures.

Delorino advised the DOJ to file a separate complaint of rebellion against Sison, Honasan and their co-accused.

However, Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said they will still pursue a consolidation of the rebellion cases against Beltran and San Juan with those filed against Sison, Honasan and the others in the new proceedings.

"The charges we will file (today) against Honasan, the Batasan Five and other members and officers of the CPP-NPA-NDF and Magdalo soldiers are a separate complaint," he said. "But we will still move for its consolidation during the proceedings of the case."

Velasco recommended no bail for Sison, Honasan and the Batasan Five Representatives who include Teodoro Casiño, Satur Ocampo and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of Gabriela and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, along with their co-accused.

Velasco accused Beltran, Mariano, Ocampo, Casino, Maza and Virador along with several unidentified people of allocating portions of their Countrywide Development Funds or pork barrel to communist rebels through their legal front organizations to finance the overthrow of the government.

Also facing charges are Juliet Sison, Luis Jalandoni, Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, Tirso Alcantara, Benjamin Mendoza, Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Tiamzon, Jake Malajacan, Felix Turingan, 1Lt. Angelbert Gay, 1Lt. Patricio Bumidang, 2Lt. Aldrin Baldonado, lawyer Christopher Belmonte, Rafael Vitriolo Mariano, Vicente Ladlad, Nathaniel Santiago, Sotero Llamas, Julio Atienza;

Edilberto Escudero, Rosemarie Domanais, Rogelio Villanueva, Leo Velasco, Rafael Baylosis, Prudencio Calubid, Philip Limjoco, Julius Giron, Allan Jasminez, Antonio Cabanatan, Fidel Agcaoili, Edilberto Silva, Maria Concepcion Araneta Bocala, Jorge Madlos, Eugenia M. Topacio, Francisco Fernandez, Carlos Borjal, Elizabeth Principe, Randal Echaniz, Rey Claro Casambre and Tita Lubi.

The DOJ dropped its bid to consolidate the case with those facing Beltran and San Juan, both accused of trying to topple President Arroyo, after Delorino rejected their earlier motion to do so.

State prosecutors then accused Delorino of partiality and asked her to recuse herself from the case, which the judge did last Wednesday.

With that, the rebellion case against Honasan and his co-accused as well as those against Beltran and San Juan will be raffled off again on Monday.

Velasco alleges that all 46 accused are members or allies of the CPP and that their fringe party-list organizations are "legal fronts."

Although the United States and the European Union consider the CPP to be a terrorist organization, the party was decriminalized after the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. The CPP has been waging a Maoist insurgency for 37 years.

Last week, Delorino dismissed the rebellion charges against Honasan and his co-accused — who included rogue military officers and communist rebel leaders. They were allegedly behind a failed coup plot against President Arroyo in February.

Delorino ruled that the charge sheet was full of factual errors. It was the latest in a series of legal blows against Mrs. Arroyo, who is fighting an opposition-led campaign to force her from office over allegations of cheating in the 2004 presidential election.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez initially insisted they still faced arrest if they step out of the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City because the case was dismissed on a technicality and could be revived.

Last Sunday, Gonzalez backtracked and said police could not arrest the lawmakers unless the case against them was formally reopened.

He said government prosecutors were preparing to either appeal or file new charges. "We maintain that rebellion is a continuing crime and thus we can arrest them based on our evidence."

The military accuses the leftist parties of being fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has waged a Maoist insurgency for 37 years. The CPP is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Last Monday, the five — wearing white and raising clenched fists — emerged triumphantly from the Batasang Pambansa to the cheers of hundreds of supporters.

They demanded the release of Beltran, who remains in police custody at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City for treatment of diabetes and a minor stroke. The rebellion charge against Beltran was also dismissed.

Beltran was arrested shortly after Mrs. Arroyo issued Proclamation 1017 on February 24 and declared a state of national emergency to counter an alleged coup by rogue military officers allied with communist rebels and elements of the opposition.

But the other five took refuge in the House on Feb. 27 to avoid arrest on charges that they conspired with more than 40 other people in the alleged failed plot.

They claimed parliamentary immunity and the House agreed to give them protection as long as they remained within the premises.

Police officers who have been watching the Batasang Pambansa in the hope of catching the five lawmakers sneaking out were ordered last Sunday by Philippine National Police chief Arturo Lomibao to end their stakeout following Gonzalez’s announcement.

Mrs. Arroyo has suffered a series of legal setbacks in her effort to crack down on opponents. The latest came last week when the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional portions of Proclamation 1017.

Though it ruled her declaration to be constitutionally valid, the SC said Mrs. Arroyo’s crackdown on street protests, detainment of several people without charges and pressure on the media during the emergency declaration were illegal.

Lawyer Romeo Capulong, who represents the Batasan Five, said they would fight back with criminal and administrative charges against Gonzalez, Lomibao and a number of prosecutors for allegedly fabricating evidence against them and threatening them with illegal arrests. — With Michael Punongbayan, Aurea Calica