Court allows alleged mutineer Faeldon to post bail

A Makati City court has allowed Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, an alleged participant in two failed attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration, to post a P100,000 bail, but the Marine officer said he couldn’t afford it. "I have no money to use. I cannot post a bail. It (bail) was approved by the judge but the problem is I have no money. I am still looking for money," said Faeldon, who is restricted at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio. Faeldon said his friends have been helping him raise the money, but so far not enough has been collected. He said he is confident that they would be able to raise the money before the year ends. Faeldon is facing trial before civilian and military courts for allegedly participating in two attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration: the July 2003 Oakwood Mutiny and the November 2007 siege of Manila Peninsula Hotel, both in Makati City. Faeldon escaped authorities during the height of the Manila Peninsula siege on Nov. 29, 2007, where he, recently freed Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, former Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, and 25 other soldiers walked out of their trial and marched through the streets of Makati City, called for the ouster of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and seized the second floor of the posh hotel along Ayala Avenue. Prior to that, he escaped from military custody in December 2005 after attending a court hearing, but was subsequently arrested by military intelligence agents a month later in Malabon in the company of military prosecutor Capt. Candelaria Rivas. Faeldon said the Makati court allowed him to post bail after it junked his petition to be allowed to visit his family for Christmas. He said he was happy that the court allowed him to post bail. On whether the court’s decision was prompted by the prosecution’s weak case for coup d etat, he said: “I do not want to speculate." — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV