‘Batasan 5’ welcome new rebellion raps

The left-leaning party-list lawmakers known as the "Batasan Five" are ready to answer in court the rebellion charges filed anew against them and 41 others by the Department of Justice (DOJ) last Friday.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, one of the five leftist legislators who sought sanctuary inside the House of Representatives to avoid arrest in February, branded the re-filed case as the "same ridiculous, trumped-up charge covering four decades and making the legitimate exercise of the right to dissent an act of rebellion.

"We are ready to face this in court," he said. "We hope that the DOJ and the Philippine National Police won’t resort to shortcuts and dirty tricks like what they have been doing since Feb. 24."

Casiño was referring to the arrest of professor Randy David, who was taken in by police during a protest rally after he refused their invitation for questioning.

On May 4, the Supreme Court had ruled that his arrest was illegal because the police violated constitutional limits in making arrests.

Last Thursday, the DOJ filed anew its rebellion case against Casiño, four other left-leaning lawmakers, former senator Gregorio Honasan and 40 other individuals after the Makati City Regional Trial Court had dismissed the charges.

Judge Jenny Delorino earlier ruled that the charge sheet was full of factual errors but said new charges could be filed.

The Batasan Five, Honasan and the other accused — who included rogue military officers and communist rebel leaders — were allegedly behind a failed Feb. 24 coup plot against President Arroyo.

Delorino junked the DOJ’s move to include the Batasan Five, Honasan and the others in the rebellion case against left-leaning party-list lawmaker Crispin Beltran and rogue military officer 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, both in police custody.

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 the one against Beltran and San Juan will both be raffled off again tomorrow.

Casiño and his four colleagues — Satur Ocampo and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis and Liza Maza of women’s group Gabriela — claimed parliamentary immunity and hid in the Batasang Pambansa on Feb. 27 to escape a government crackdown that followed the coup attempt.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez initially insisted they still faced arrest if they left the House premises because the case was dismissed on a technicality and could be revived.

But he then backtracked and said police could not arrest the lawmakers unless the case against them was formally reopened in court.

Casiño and others emerged from the House last week after holing up there for over two months.

The new rebellion case will no longer seek to be integrated with the rebellion case against Beltran and San Juan, who was involved in a 2003 mutiny.

Casiño earlier said they could do nothing to prevent their arrest once a warrant has been issued by the courts. "We won’t resist arrest, we can’t resist arrest. But we will make a protest out of that arrest."

Their lawyer, Romeo Capulong, said the five will comply only when an arrest warrant is served. He refused to say if the lawmakers would again invoke parliamentary immunity.

Ocampo, former spokesman of the National Democratic Front, the Communist Party of the Philippines’ political arm, also expressed willingness to face trial in court.

They have a pending petition asking the Supreme Court to nullify the DOJ’s rebellion case against them on grounds of partiality.

Also yestersay, Malacañang vowed that the long arm of the law will finally catch up with the Batasan Five and Honasan, saying those who mocked constitutional order would not be able to escape punishment based on laws.

"This government will not allow any group, whether from the right of the left, to threaten our democratic way of life," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye Jr. said.

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

On Feb. 24, Mrs. Arroyo issued Proclamation 1017 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.

Beltran was arrested but Casiño and the others took refuge at the House.

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

However, on May 4, the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional portions of Proclamation 1017, saying the ensuing government crackdown on street protests, the detainment of several people without charges and threats of censorship on the media were illegal for violating democratic principles.

It was the latest in a series of legal setbacks for Mrs. Arroyo who has been fighting efforts by opposition-led efforts to force her from office over vote-rigging allegations.

The High Tribunal 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.

Armed with that court ruling, Capulong said they would press charges against Gonzalez and other government officials for allegedly fabricating evidence against them and threatening them with illegal arrests. — With Aurea Calica