Magdalo soldier linked to Nov. 29 siege nabbed at airport

By Ronron
December 5, 2007

One of the four missing suspects in the November 29 alleged attempted coup plot in Makati City was nabbed before dawn Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City as he was about to leave for the United States.

Chief Supt. Atilano Morada,, chief of the police Aviation Security Group (ASG), said Private First Class Arvin Celestino of the Philippine Marine Corps was apprehended at around 4am yesterday while he was about to enter NAIA to board Northwest Airlines flight 072 at around 6:40 am.

Morada said Celestino, 36, was barred from leaving the country because he failed to show a travel authority required of government officials who go abroad.

But he admitted that ASG personnel were already alerted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil Relations Service (AFP-CRS), Celestino’s mother unit, as early as Tuesday night about Celestino’s planned travel since he is also suspected to be involved in the November 29 incident in Makati City.

Police had earlier identified Celestino as among the four unaccounted for suspects in the alleged power grab plot last November 29. The three others are Marines Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, and former military men Elmer Colon and Sonny Madarang.

AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said Celestino, who belongs to the 2nd Civil Relations Group of the AFP that is based in the Southern Luzon Command in Lucena City, Quezon, is still an active member of the military because his application for dependency discharge has yet to be acted upon.

Celestino was supposed to work in the United States as a lifeguard. He has US working visa that was issued on November 27, said Morada.

Bacarro said Celestino was among the more than 180 enlisted personnel who participated in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny in Makati City and later entered into a plea-bargaining agreement with the military prosecution in May 2005.

Morada said Celestino confirmed that he was slapped with a demotion in rank from Corporal to PFC due to his participation in the Oakwood Mutiny.

But the soldier did not say anything about his alleged involvement in the November 29 incident.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief for the National Capital Region (NCR) Sr. Supt. Asher Dolina said they cannot question Celestino yet because he had no lawyer yesterday when taken to Camp Crame from the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo after his apprehension.

But based on initial investigation by the CIDG, it was learned that Celestino was among the security details of the so-called “November 29 family,” Dolina said.

Celestino was allegedly among those that ensured the escape of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and other accused from the Makati City Hall building in the morning of November 29, Dolina said.

He would later join the group that secured Trillanes while marching from J. P. Rizal Avenue and Makati Avenue until they arrived at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

At the hotel, Celestino allegedly secured both Trillanes and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. by disguising himself as a member of the media, Dolina continued.

But he later escaped as the police begin to move in the hotel to quell the takeover.

Dolina said they were preparing to charge Celestino yesterday afternoon with rebellion before the Department of Justice (DOJ). The CIDG had earlier slapped 51 people with the same charge over the weekend, but only 36 were elevated before the Makati City court last Monday. The rest will still have to undergo preliminary investigation.

Bacarro said Celestino’s trip to the US indicates his guilt to the November 29 incident. “Based on jurisprudence, flight is an admission of guilt,” he said.

Asked if Celestino has knowledge about the whereabouts of Faeldon, Bacarro just said: “Well, that is the subject of the debriefing (at ISAFP). I will not be in a position to disclose the progress of the debriefing.”

On Celestino’s apparent continued defiance against the government even after the plea-bargaining agreement in May 2005, Bacarro said it could be a case of “blind loyalty” or just for monetary reasons.

PNP chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. had earlier said that the document seized from the Manila Peninsula Hotel after the takeover showed there were allowances of P10,000 supposed to be allotted to every participant, as well as 10 sim cards. It is not yet established if indeed this was complied with./DMS