Arroyo approves verdict on 54 Magdalo soldiers

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has approved the Armed Forces general court martial’s guilty verdict on 54 junior officers involved in the July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny, the Philippine military said Wednesday. In a statement signed by Armed Forces information chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, the President upheld the military court’s decision to impose a seven-year prison term on the soldiers as well as to dishonorably discharge said officers from the military service after entering a plea bargain agreement with government prosecutors. On April 11, the officers pleaded guilty to violation of Articles of War 97 (conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline) in exchange for the dropping of other charges against them: AW 63 (disrespect toward the President, Vice President, members of Congress and the Secretary of National Defense); 64 (disrespect toward a superior officer); AW 67 (mutiny or sedition); and AW 96 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman). The group would be able to walk free on Jan. 27 next year since the court credited the over three years and seven months the said officers have served in detention and shaved an additional three years off the sentence, one year for each "mitigating circumstance." "The approval of President Arroyo on the decision rendered by the GCM manifests that justice has been served and that the military justice system is fair and reasonable as it is harsh," Bacarro said. "Military adventurism has no place in a democratic society, it will not be tolerated and that disciplinary action will in all cases will be clear, swift and decisive," he added. The same statement said court martial proceedings against the seven officers who did not entered into a plea bargain would be pursued where the accused are facing the original charges leveled against them. The so-called Magdalo core group, composed of 29 officers, are facing separate court martial proceedings for alleged violation of AW 96. Among those in the core group is former Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, who won a Senate seat in the May 14 polls. Trillanes’ group, along with two enlisted personnel, is also facing coup d’ etat charges in connection with the Oakwood incident. - GMANews.TV