By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:39pm (Mla time) 01/09/2007
THE Philippine Army admitted on Tuesday that rebel soldiers who have reaffirmed allegiance to the government are detained in more comfortable facilities than their defiant former comrades.The group of Captain Gerardo Gambala, who have issued two statements of support to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, are housed in "comfortable living quarters" complete with accommodations for their visitors, Army spokesman Major Ernesto Torres told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.
In contrast, the group of Captain Dante Langkit (in photo, taken last Dec. 14 in Tanay, Rizal), First Lieutenant Sonny Sarmiento, and Second Lieutenant Aldrin Baldonado are kept in individual cells, mainly because they escaped or went AWOL (absent without official leave) in the past, Torres said.
Gambala's group was also given livelihood projects such as soap-making and poultry-raising to allow them to earn additional income on top of their salaries, Torres.
The salaries of the former fugitives Sarmiento, Rabonza, Army First Lieutenants Lawrence San Juan and Patricio Bumidang Jr., and Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, were cut off late last year.
"There are slight differences [in treatment]. In terms of security, their guards are stricter," Torres said, referring to the unrepentant mutineers.
The rebel soldiers are facing charges before civilian and military courts over a failed mutiny on July 27, 2003. In addition, Sarmiento and Baldonado are facing illegal weapons possession charges stemming from the seizure of a firearms and explosives cache from their hideout, where they were arrested last July 7, 2006.
"If you see their [Gambala's group] detention, they have comfortable living quarters… They have enough room and full-length basketball courts," Torres said.
While the defiant mutineers are being detained separately, Torres stressed that their cells are not like a "bartolina" or punitive isolation facilities.
"They are given enough food. Their living conditions are good," he said.
Torres maintained that the stricter treatment for the group was not because of their continued defiance, but because of their past escapes.
Last week, the wives of Sarmiento and Baldonado decried the alleged "mental torture" their husbands were suffering in solitary confinement, allegedly to pressure them into implicating opposition figures in their escape. The Army leadership denied this.
At a hearing of their coup d'etat case in Makati City on Tuesday, Sarmiento and Rabonza arrived looking visibly thinner. Baldonado is not an accused in the case.
Rabonza had reportedly been taken out of confinement after he agreed to identify his alleged coddlers but a source close to the junior officer denied this. The source said he remains in solitary confinement.
Asked for comment on the defiant rebels' apparent weight loss, Torres said: "When you are in detention, however you are treated, it causes you anxiety."
Also at the Makati hearing, a lawyer for one of the accused, Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, asked the court to allow him to leave detention sometime in February to file his certificate of candidacy for senator.Trillanes' lawyer, Reynaldo Robles, also asked presiding Judge Oscar Pimentel to allow his client to talk to the media during the campaign period.
In a statement, Trillanes said he "welcomes" his reported inclusion in the opposition senatorial slate but added he could push through with his candidacy on his own.
"My decision to run was never contingent on being included in a coalition slate or having a campaign machinery. Either way, it's a go," he said.
Keychains and pocket calendars with Trillanes' image and the insignia of the Magdalo rebel group were also distributed during the hearing.
Click here to access article as posted on INQUIRER.net
No comments:
Post a Comment