Mobile Alerts  Newsletter  Archives  About Us  Advertise with Us Twitter GMANews.TV Facebook GMANews.TV RSS GMANews.TV
National

SC orders Esperon to explain AFP urban troop deployment

The Supreme Court has directed Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon to explain the deployment of soldiers in some poor villages in Metro Manila despite having ordered their pullout earlier this week.

Radio station dzBB reported Friday that the high court, in an en banc resolution, told Esperon to comment on the petition filed by militant party-list groups that questioned the deployment.

Some 260 soldiers were sent to 26 villages, which the military said was meant to counter the recruitment drive of communist rebels. Activists decried the deployment as a move to intimidate leftist organizations.

Party-list groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Kabataan, and Suara Bangsa Moro had said in their 20-page petition to the Supreme Court that the deployment of troops was an "insidious incursion" that violated the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code.

Bayan Muna earlier expressed elation after Esperon ordered the pullout on Wednesday morning, calling it a “tactical retreat".

“It is AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr's attempt to preempt the Supreme Court ruling on the Bayan Muna petition questioning the Constitutionality of his orders," Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo said.

Esperon insisted that the withdrawal had been planned as early as last week so that the military would not be accused of electioneering. -GMANews.TV
Other Nation stories
Marcoses win back Laguna mansion from govt
02/10/2010 | 12:39 AM
The Marcos family has regained ownership of a 25-hectare property in Cabuyao, Laguna that the government had confiscated more than two decades ago. More
Amid powerhouse campaigns, party-list groups try a different tack
02/09/2010 | 11:47 PM
While the big guns of established political parties fielding full national slates for the May elections fired their first salvos of the campaign season with full-scale sorties on Tuesday,... More
Villar caps first campaign day with song, fireworks
02/09/2010 | 11:06 PM
Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on Tuesday evening capped the first day of his 90-day campaign for presidency with a song number. More
Jamby vows ‘non-traditional’ campaign for presidency
02/09/2010 | 10:53 PM
No big proclamation rallies. No “hakot" (paid and bused-in) crowd during sorties. No flashy campaign advertisements. Only discussions of platforms and interaction with people. More
Kin of 43 arrested health workers seek SC help
02/09/2010 | 09:58 PM
Families of the 43 arrested health workers in Rizal province on Tuesday sought protection from the Supreme Court against the government, particularly the military and the police. More
Maynilad, workers settle labor dispute
02/09/2010 | 08:48 PM
A Metro Manila water distributor and its employees have settled a labor dispute, ensuring continued service for some six million residents of the Philippine capital. More
Estrada vows to regain the presidency ‘stolen from him’
02/09/2010 | 08:46 PM
In what he said was his first step on the road to redemption, deposed President Joseph Estrada on Tuesday began his campaign to regain the presidency, which he was forced to give up after a massive... More
Gibo highlights LGU support in kick-off sortie
02/09/2010 | 08:02 PM
Forty district representatives, twenty city mayors, and over a hundred local executives from all over the country attended Tuesday’s sortie of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD in Antipolo City to officially... More
Comelec allows Pagdanganan to assume Bulacan gubernatorial post
02/09/2010 | 07:58 PM
Former Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan can finally assume the post of Bulacan governor after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gave the go signal on Tuesday. More
An apple pie for Noynoy on his 50th birthday
02/09/2010 | 07:26 PM
Presidential aspirant Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III received an apple pie on his 50th birthday last Monday. It was not an ordinary apple pie, though. It came from his girlfriend, Valenzuela... More
ADVERTISEMENT
Oil near $72 amid US cold snap, Iran tensions
2010-02-08 13:32:54
SINGAPORE — Oil prices rose to almost $72 a barrel in Asia on Monday after hitting a two-month...
Dealers to cut cooking gas prices by 50 centavos/kg
2010-02-08 12:56:02
Independent dealers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will roll back prices effective Tuesday...
Ohio strip club hosts 'Lap dances for Haiti'
2010-02-09 09:52:11
TOLEDO, Ohio – A strip club in Ohio has raised $1,000 for Haitian earthquake relief during what...