Incoming AFP chief says 'destab' plot unverified
SOPHIA M. DEDACE, GMANews.TV
04/30/2009 | 05:14 PM
MANILA, Philippines – The six former military personnel and the New Zealand national who were arrested in Pampanga were not out to overthrow the government, incoming Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado said Thursday.
Ibrado, currently the commanding general of the Philippine Army and who would succeed retiring AFP chief Gen. Alexander Yano on Friday, said information reaching him indicated that the seven were just training at a firing range in Clark Field in Angeles, Pampanga for deployment for work abroad.
"As of now, there is no official report that has reached us other than them just preparing for training for their deployment, for their work abroad," Ibrado told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.
Last April 23, six former military personnel and Anthony Joseph Newman were arrested at the firing range by operatives of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), which is headed by Mariano Jose Villafuerte III, son of Camarines Sur Rep Luis Villafuerte.
The younger Villafuerte claimed that the former men in uniform, who he said were all connected with the short-lived Oakwood mutiny in July 2003, were out to spring out Sen. Antonio Trillanes and former Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim from the National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
Villafuerte likewise said there was a plot to assassinate the President as part of the destabilization move.
Trillanes is detained over rebellion charges in connection with the November 2007 standoff at the Peninsula Manila hotel. He is also facing coup d' etat charges and a military court martial for his role in the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
On the other hand, Lim is also facing rebellion charges and a military court martial proceeding in connection with the alleged February 2006 coup attempt.
In Thursday’s interview, Ibrado assured that there no plot to destabilize the government or plans to assassinate the President. He likewise dismissed supposed plans to rescue Trillanes and Lim. "I don’t think there is a need for them to do that and I’m sure they [former military soldiers] will not do that."
Trillanes, who had since denied the alleged destabilization and rescue plots, had filed a Senate resolution on Wednesday seeking an inquiry into the arrest of the six former military men and Newman.
In Senate Resolution 1038, Trillanes said he received information that the arrest and the subsequent allegations of a destabilization plot was staged to harass and compel Anthony Newman, reported owner of Clark Eagle Firing Range, to give up or surrender the firing range in favor of the son of a high-ranking administration official.
The detained senator, however, did not name the high-ranking official or the official's son.
But the younger Villafuerte fired back by claiming that in calling for the probe, Trillanes had knowledge of the supposed destabilization plot.
"We have gathered confessions of their unlawful plot supported by video and taped testimonies and other relevant documents. We are now in the process of collating, synthesizing all pieces of evidence and putting into proper form and substance before filing the complaints in the [Justice Department]," Villafuerte said in a statement issued Thursday. - GMANews.TV
Ibrado, currently the commanding general of the Philippine Army and who would succeed retiring AFP chief Gen. Alexander Yano on Friday, said information reaching him indicated that the seven were just training at a firing range in Clark Field in Angeles, Pampanga for deployment for work abroad.
"As of now, there is no official report that has reached us other than them just preparing for training for their deployment, for their work abroad," Ibrado told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.
Last April 23, six former military personnel and Anthony Joseph Newman were arrested at the firing range by operatives of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), which is headed by Mariano Jose Villafuerte III, son of Camarines Sur Rep Luis Villafuerte.
The younger Villafuerte claimed that the former men in uniform, who he said were all connected with the short-lived Oakwood mutiny in July 2003, were out to spring out Sen. Antonio Trillanes and former Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim from the National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
Villafuerte likewise said there was a plot to assassinate the President as part of the destabilization move.
Trillanes is detained over rebellion charges in connection with the November 2007 standoff at the Peninsula Manila hotel. He is also facing coup d' etat charges and a military court martial for his role in the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
On the other hand, Lim is also facing rebellion charges and a military court martial proceeding in connection with the alleged February 2006 coup attempt.
In Thursday’s interview, Ibrado assured that there no plot to destabilize the government or plans to assassinate the President. He likewise dismissed supposed plans to rescue Trillanes and Lim. "I don’t think there is a need for them to do that and I’m sure they [former military soldiers] will not do that."
Trillanes, who had since denied the alleged destabilization and rescue plots, had filed a Senate resolution on Wednesday seeking an inquiry into the arrest of the six former military men and Newman.
In Senate Resolution 1038, Trillanes said he received information that the arrest and the subsequent allegations of a destabilization plot was staged to harass and compel Anthony Newman, reported owner of Clark Eagle Firing Range, to give up or surrender the firing range in favor of the son of a high-ranking administration official.
The detained senator, however, did not name the high-ranking official or the official's son.
But the younger Villafuerte fired back by claiming that in calling for the probe, Trillanes had knowledge of the supposed destabilization plot.
"We have gathered confessions of their unlawful plot supported by video and taped testimonies and other relevant documents. We are now in the process of collating, synthesizing all pieces of evidence and putting into proper form and substance before filing the complaints in the [Justice Department]," Villafuerte said in a statement issued Thursday. - GMANews.TV
