Trillanes, 50 others charged with rebellion before DOJ; P 1million reward up for Faeldon’s capture

By Ronron
December 1, 2007

The Philippine National Police (PNP) late Friday night formally charged with rebellion and inciting to rebellion before state prosecutors 51 personalities seized from the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City last Thursday.

Those charged include Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., former University of the Philippines President Francisco Nemenzo, and Bishop Julio Labayen.

The inquest proceedings against the accused, most of whom are detained at the PNP Custodial Center inside Camp Crame in Quezon City, started past 10 pm and ended 1:05 am Saturday.

Lead by State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, the four-man inquest panel rushed the proceedings to beat the 36-hour reglamentary period for the accused, which lapsed at 7am yesterday (Saturday). Under Philippine laws, any detained accused has to be released 36 hours after his or her detention if no case is filed before the prosecutor’s office.

Among the 51 identified accused, only 48 were physically present at the inquest proceedings. Those not around were Guingona, who had earlier been released to his family due to old age and medical condition; Labayen, who was also released to the custody of another Bishop for the same reasons; and Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, who escaped from the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

The proceedings dragged on for about three hours because the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), which was the complainant, failed to prepare the exact number of copies of the complaint sheet for all the accused.

And while it was later settled, a debate between the CIDG and the lawyers of the accused ensued, particularly on the issue of dismissing the charges against some accused.

Atty. Theodore Te, who represented several of the accused, sought the immediate dismissal of the case against four of his clients because while their names were on the charge sheet, those were not manifested in any of the affidavits of arrest prepared by the CIDG.

Te argued that being such, there is no basis for the complaint, moreso to the detention of the accused.

Atty. Rey Robles, another defense lawyer, sought the same action for all civilian-accused as he noted the lack of specific overt actions that qualify as rebellion in the affidavits of arrest.

This, Robles said, makes the charges baseless.

In an interview yesterday, Nemenzo supported this claim, saying that among the civilian-accused, only Guingona was mentioned to have done something relative to the alleged crime.

“This is a funny case because there are no specific acts of rebellion attributed to us. They only mentioned Vice President Guingona. And his only rebellious act was to propose a toast. So the criminal complaint filed by the (CIDG) is really very defective,” he said.

When asked of his participation, Nemenzo said he was just at the scene because he followed the accused Magdalo soldiers upon walking out from the courtroom in Makati City earlier on Thursday.

He said he is a frequent observer at the trial of the coup d’ etat case against the Magdalo soldiers at the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148, and was not aware of the walk-out that led to the public calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Peninsula Hotel.

Although, Nemenzo admitted he shares the sentiment of Lim and Trillanes. In fact, after what happened to them, he said they “will continue to campaign for the end of this illegitimate government and to struggle for social change.”

But Velasco told Te and Robles that he could no immediately act on the motions of the defense lawyers because the panel has to go through the document.

What Velasco granted though was the motion to release Nemenzo from detention based on the motion of Te, which cites Nemenzo’s old age, health condition, and the assurance of a congresswoman to place him under her custody while not in jail.

The police later granted the same privilege to accused Bibeth Orteza, who is a cancer patient.

This now leaves only 46 of the accused who remain detained at the PNP Custodial Center.

Velasco said the panel will try their best to come out with a resolution on or before Monday so as not to prolong the agony of the accused.

“We will determine if the crime of rebellion or inciting to rebellion really happened, and if ever it did, who are liable for this among those accused,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PNP announced yesterday the offer of P1 million for any person who could provide information that could lead to the arrest of Faeldon.

PNP Chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. said he made the said recommendation and Arroyo approved it.

“We expect that the reward offer will encourage people in the community to provide us with information that will lead to the early arrest of persons involved,” Razon said.

Razon had described Faeldon to be harmful and dangerous while out of jail, citing his military background.

A core leader of the Magdalo Group, Faeldon was already able to do the same escape in December 2005, but he was arrested in late January of 2006.

Aside from Faeldon, Razon said they are also looking for three more persons who managed to escape last Thursday.

“The PNP is in constant coordination with the AFP authorities in efforts to account for all military personnel involved in the foiled uprising,” he said./DMS