Army leadership detaining 40 foot soldiers over failed coup in February 2006

By Ronron
October 10, 2007

The Philippine Army admitted on Wednesday that they have detained for over a year now 40 of its enlisted personnel in relation to the alleged February 2006 coup plot.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Jr. made the admission after Camp Aguinaldo reporters verified with him the claim of Senator Rodolfo Biazon that he saw detained Army enlisted personnel in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal last Monday.

“They are being detained in relation to the February plot last year. The Army Inspector General (IG) conducted an investigation… There are two options, either they will be also charged before a court martial or they be proceeded administratively. These are the two options that are still being evaluated up to this time,” Torres said.

Torres said the 40 come from the Special Operations Command headquarters in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija; the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) headquarters in San Miguel, Bulacan; and the Scout Rangers unit in the Bicol Region.

Asked about the actual activity of the 40 that merited their detention, Torres said: “I am not sure yet because they come from different units, different bases.”

He said majority of them were detained starting July 24 last year, while the rest followed on August 1 and in October of the same year.

While he admitted that there are still no charges against the 40, Torres said the basis for the detention is Articles of War 70, which provides that any person under military law with offense can be placed under restriction at a barracks or detention until the case is resolved.

Torres also said that while the investigation by the Army IG was already completed in August last year, the Army leadership cannot conclusively decide yet how to proceed with the case against the 40 because they are awaiting the development on the case against the 28 officers that were suspected as main key actors in the alleged coup plot.

The 28 officers are headed by former Marines Commandant Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, former FSRR chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, and Marine Col. Ariel Querubin. All of them have yet to be arraigned for the charges of violating various Articles of War although they have been in detention also at Tanay for over a year now.

“These enlisted personnel follow the officer. That’s a basic rule… So, whatever will be my involvement as an officer may have a bearing on how they (enlisted personnel) reacted that time… There is still no arraignment of the officers so it may have a bearing on the part of the enlisted personnel’s case,” Torres explained.

Notably, there are no Marine EP’s suffering the same fate as the 40 Army EP’s, even as there are Marine officers also being accused in the same case.

Torres assured, however, that even if they have been detained, the 40 continue to receive their salaries./DMS