Magdalo member files COC for Taguig congressional seat

A member of the Magdalo group who took part in the attempt to topple the Arroyo administration six years ago on Wednesday formalized his political plans for the 2010 automated elections. Discharged Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade James Layug, who will be running for congressman in Taguig City’s second district, went to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Manila and filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at 2:45 p.m. Layug, discharged by a military court for his participation in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny in Makati City, will be running as an independent candidate.

"People told us before that we had good aspirations but wrong means. So I am now going into the mainstream, specifically in policy-making," he told reporters in Filipino. Layug was one of the more than 300 junior officers and enlisted men who occupied the posh Oakwood Premier Hotel (now Ascot Makati Hotel) on July 27, 2003 and called for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whom they accused of corruption. Another member of the group, former Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, won a Senate seat in the 2007 elections despite his incarceration. To date, however, Trillanes remains detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame. Layug vowed to bring social equity and good governance to his district if elected as representative. “Sama-sama nating isulong ang bagong pulitika - isang pulitikang kakatawan sa boses ng masa at ipaglalaban ang interes ng bayan," he said. (Let’s work together towards new politics—politics that represent the voice of the masses and will fight for the interest of the people.) Layug and Trillanes are still facing coup d’etat and rebellion charges before the Makati Regional Trial Court for their participation in the Oakwood Mutiny and the siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel, respectively, in November 2007. Like Trillanes, Layug is detained at the PNP Custodial Center. He was allowed to go out of his detention cell for him to file his COC. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV