Mutiny leader clears Gringo

Former senator Gregorio Honasan was not involved in the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny, Lt/Sg. Antonio Trillanes IV, leader of the Magdalo Group that staged the incident, said yesterday.

In a one-page statement he released to the media during a court-martial hearing, Trillanes said they acted on their own in staging the mutiny.

"I have said time and again that the Oakwood incident was solely our own. Implicating him (Honasan) and the others in the case is a mere ploy to distract the people from the real issues and project us as nothing but pawns with no real or valid grievance," Trillanes said.

The statement was apparently aimed at clearing Honasan who is detained at the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) headquarters in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Trillanes said the capture of Honasan only showed that nothing is permanent in life and "those who are lording it over us right now should dread the day that they fall from power because that is inevitable."

Trillanes is one of the six key leaders of the failed Oakwood mutiny and was tagged as the brains behind the plot to topple the Arroyo administration.

Asked if he has any ill feelings towards Honasan, Trillanes said: "None, I still have high regard for him as an upperclassman and as a friend."

Honasan was arrested last Nov. 15 after he was cornered by combined military and police agents at the townhouse owned by his supposed long-time lover Ingrid Ramos at Greenmeadows Subdivision, a posh residential area at the back of Camp Aguinaldo.

The former senator tried to elude arrest but ended up with a sprained leg and an injured foot after he jumped out of the window.

Honasan went into hiding after the Makati City Regional Trial Court indicted him last February for his role in the July 27, 2003 failed coup staged by about 300 Magdalo soldiers.

The group seized the Oakwood Hotel at the heart of the country’s financial district and demanded the resignation of President Arroyo and other key government officials.

The soldiers agreed to return to their quarters and were later detained for plotting a coup against the government.

While in detention, the group decided to declare their allegiance to the country and their support to the government in the presence of Mrs. Arroyo herself.

However, the promise did not last as the key leaders ended up quarreling among themselves while in detention at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

Several Magdalo officers now under military custody have executed statements accusing Honasan as the godfather of the Magdalo Group.

Two soldiers sentenced and released

Two soldiers facing military trial for their role in the Oakwood mutiny pleaded guilty to the charges of violating the Articles of War and were sentenced to one-year jail terms each.

The court, however, ordered their release as they had already more than served the sentence.

Army Corporal Jesus Molon Jr. and Private First Class Winston Iponia have been in detention for over three years now. "The court agreed (to free them). They were given full credit for the time they served in jail," said military prosecutor Col. Pedro Herrera-Davila.

Aside from rank demotions, the military court, chaired by Air Force Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Legaspi, also ordered the forfeiture of two-thirds of Molon’s salary for three months and two-thirds of Ipono’s salary for four months.

The two were the only remaining foot soldiers detained in connection with the failed military uprising three years ago. Their colleagues had struck a plea bargain with military prosecutors in May last year. — With AFP