CIDG eyes Magdalo soldier as state witness in overthrow plot

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is now considering one of the Magdalo officers arrested last Friday as a state witness to bolster the government’s case against other personalities involved in efforts to overthrow the government.

Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR), said 1Lt. Patricio Bumidang has expressed willingness to cooperate with the government.

"In fact Bumidang has written a one-page letter on Monday night that he is willing to cooperate. He said in his letter that he was not coerced and that he will help the government. The letter was made in the presence of his lawyer, Francis Villanueva," Dolina said.

With Bumidang’s cooperation, Dolina believes investigators can establish the Magdalo group’s plan to overthrow the Arroyo administration by cooperating with other groups.

Bumidang volunteered to identify and turn over to the CIDG-NCR the communications and computer devices and blueprints of the Batasan Pambansa complex seized during a raid on the group’s safehouse at the Filinvest II subdivision in Batasan Hills, Quezon City last Friday.

With Bumidang’s help, Dolina said they were able to seize the devices and documents from the safehouse during follow-up operations past 10 p.m. Monday. Police recovered three laptop computers, 11 cellular phones, one flash disk, an external memory computer drive and several building blueprints, according to Dolina.

Dolina said the devices will be of great help to police investigators in their efforts to identify the rebel soldiers’ financiers.

PNP chief Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon earlier said the six Magdalo soldiers were "properly supported," as documents recovered from the safehouse showed expenditures of P3.5 million in just one month.

Aside from Bumidang, the other arrested military fugitives were Capt. Nathaniel Rabonza, Army 1Lt. Sonny Sarmiento, Army 2Lts. Aldrin Baldonado and Angelbert Gay, and Navy Lt. Col. Kiram Sadava.

Arrested along with Magdalo soldiers were lawyer Jose Christopher Belmonte and Michael Yangson.

Dolina said the Magdalo group’s mission was dubbed Task Group Alpha Hawk, whose mission is to "attack, destroy objective 137 effective D Day. Each hour in order to gain foothold of the seat of power."

Quoting the notes they seized from the Magdalo safehouse, Dolina said "the concept of operation, the purpose of operation is to seal off objective 137 and isolate its illegal occupants to force them to relinquish sovereign power to this chain to the extreme."

"Siguro ang nakikita namin dito baka ito yung pinaplano nila na attack ng Malacañang pero nakikita namin na unfinished naman ang mga ito, so ongoing lang yung plano (We think they have plans to attack Malacañang, these seem to be unfinished and could be ongoing)," Dolina said.

CIDG-NCR operatives conducted a 30-day surveillance on Magdalo members until their arrest last Friday with the help of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response and Intelligence Security Group of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

CIDG chief Director Jesus Verzosa said the initial interview with Bumidang indicated that the Magdalo group leaders were greatly influenced by their counterparts from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), adopting the same tactic used by the communists — a power grab with the use of force.

"They have a continuing plot for a political power grab with the use of arms. Their primary objective was just to overthrow the existing government and grab power despite the arrests and filing of charges against them in civilian and military courts," Verzosa said.

Sources said another Magdalo leader, Army 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, is also set to testify in favor of the government on the group’s plan to join forces with the CPP-NPA and grab power.

San Juan, together with Belmonte, was arrested last February in Batangas and documents seized from them showed the two groups’ joint plan to grab power allegedly in cooperation with some PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers, led by erstwhile Army Scout Rangers commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Verzosa said the power grab plan by the Magdalo and CPP-NPA is also supported by certain opposition figures.

Meanwhile, the PNP and the Philippine Army have obtained leads to identifying the arrested Magdalo officers’ accomplices who are still at large.

Army and police experts are processing calls — all traceable — made by Rabonza on his cell phone before he was arrested.

The AFP was supposed to hold a media briefing on the Magdalo group’s Oplan Trident yesterday, but this was rescheduled for today.

Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said the briefing would focus on the initial findings from the documents seized during Friday’s raid.

The Department of Justice charged the six renegade officers yesterday with illegal possession of firearms and explosives and direct assault before the Quezon City regional trial court.

Belmonte and Yangson were charged with obstruction of justice for harboring fugitives, Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said.

Prosecutors recommended that each of them post a P200,000 bail for their temporary liberty. — With Jaime Laude, James Mananghaya