Esperon can prolong or cut short 54 officers' sentence

Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon may prolong, or cut short, the sentence handed down to 54 junior officers involved in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny set to be freed in January next year, a military spokesman said Thursday. Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Vicente Baccaro, chief of the AFP public information office, said that as convening authority of the general court martial, Esperon can “review" the sentence although he cannot reverse the guilty verdict. “The usual procedure is that the convening authority will review the recommendations of the court martial. He can’t change the verdict but he will examine if the procedures were followed and if the punishment imposed is commensurate to the offense committed or within the bounds of the punishment system of the AFP," Bacarro told reporters. Asked if Esperon can prolong or cut short the punishment, Bacarro said: “You can say that…Well just check if it is within the bounds of the law." The 54 junior officers were among the more than 300 soldiers belonging to the Magdalo group who took over for 21 hours the Oakwood Premier Suites at the heart of the Makati financial district on July 27, 2003. The mutineers then said they were making a statement against corruption in the military and government. The 54 junior officers were sentenced to seven years and six months in prison but their jail terms were reduced due to "mitigating circumstances". The general court martial presided over by Brigadier General Nathaniel Legaspi ruled that the officers, who had already spent 3 years and over 8 months in prison, would be released on January 27, 2008. The mutinous junior officers would also be dishonorably discharged from military service at the end of their confinement. The officers struck a plea bargain deal with military prosecutors, pleading guilty to charges of violating Article of War 97, or conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, in exchange for dropping of four other more grave charges. The plea bargain agreement, however, excludes 29 other officers, including key Magdalo leaders: former Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, who is now a senatorial bet in the May 14 polls of the Genuine Opposition, Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, and Army Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo, the last two of whom have regretted taking part in the mutiny and distanced themselves from the Magdalo. Earlier, four other junior military officers also linked to the mutiny were cleared of all charges for lack of probable cause. -GMANews.TV