Reports: 8 Army officers, 17 foot soldiers held on 'coup' ties

Military officials have reportedly held for questioning eight middle-level and junior Army officers and 17 foot soldiers regarding their alleged involvement in a botched coup attempt. Separate reports obtained by GMANews.TV quoted unnamed military sources as saying that Army Capt. Ruben Guinolbay, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1994, was among those restricted pending the recommendations of the Army Inspector General. Among the officers in custody were two lieutenant colonels, four captains and two lieutenants. The military sources have refused to divulge the soldiers’ names. Guinolbay was one of the soldiers who rescued businessman Reghis Romero II and other victims kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf in Dos Palmas in 2001. The House of Representatives once cited the Army captain as a hero of the Lamitan siege in Basilan. The reports said the restricted officers and soldiers attempted to join Brigadier General Danilo Lim, former commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), in joining a protest march last February 24 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first People Power revolt. Military leaders eventually sacked Lim, whom they claimed tried to sway Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Generoso Senga, claiming the coup plot was quashed. President Arroyo declared a state of national emergency shortly thereafter. The separate reports said the 33rd Infantry Batallion and the 9th Infantry Division (ID) in Camarines Sur intercepted two of the officers and the 17 enlisted personnel while on their way to the protest march in Metro Manila. They were reportedly detained at the headquarters of the Army 9th ID in Pili, Camarines Sur since then. The rest of the officers and soldiers were unable to move as elements of 7th ID were already blocking the road. All of the detained Army personnel, except for one officer who is with Special Operations Command, are detailed at FSRR. Lim’s successor, FSSR commander Colonel Reynaldo Mapagu, confirmed that the Army invited “for interview” two Scout Ranger officers. He denied, however, that they were taken for investigation. He said the Army will determine the people to be subjected to investigation, should the need arise. Four officers were held at the FSRR in Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan, while two others were held under the custody of the Southern Luzon Command headquarters in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija. Lim on Wednesday appeared before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to deny his allegation on the coup attempt and purported links to the mutinous Magdalo group. GMANews.TV was trying to reach Armed Forces officials for comment as of posting time.-GMANews.TV, with a report from inq7.net