Guingona, other 'seniors' may be turned over to lawyers, kin

Government prosecutors expressed openness to allow former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr and other "senior" members of the "Peninsula 50" to stay with relatives or lawyers once the rebellion case against the alleged participants in last week's standoff reaches trial. Senior state prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said Tuesday that while rebellion is not bailable, prosecutors will consider some of the respondents's advanced age as basis for consideration. "Pardon will not be an option until they are convicted. With respect to the former vice president [Guingona], to the bishop [Julio Labayen] and to Dr [Francisco] Nemenzo of the University of the Philippines, considering their age, we might not oppose their request to be released on recognizance during the trial stage," he said in Filipino on GMA News Unang Balita. He said Guingona, Labayen and Nemenzo are all above 70 years old. Labayen is 81 years old. Last weekend, the police allowed the three – along with scriptwriter Bibeth Orteza – to be released from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center for humanitarian reasons. Velasco said that if the "senior" members of the "Peninsula 50" will be released, then the latter will likely be turned over to "an immediate member of the family or their respective lawyers." The panel headed by Velasco filed charges of rebellion and inciting to sedition against the 50 before the courts Monday. In the same interview, Velasco maintained that government prosecutors had enough evidence to build a solid case against the respondents. "With due respect to our former vice president and our former secretary of justice [Guingona] and the rest, we have what we call an 'over act' under the law. That's their 'active participation,'" Velasco said in Filipino, adding that, "This was a conspiracy, we have evidence to show that their act was planned days before the rebellion was staged." Asked what the evidence the government had to bolster these allegations, Velasco said that, "Of course the footage of our fellow (kapatid) newsmen, and the eye witness account of the police operatives who were there at the scene." As this developed, Velasco said the 15 military personnel who were charged can face separate administrative cases before a military court, depending on the decision of the Armed Forces. The military men charged included Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim; Capt. Gary Alejano; Capt. Segundino Orfiano Jr; Lieutenants Senior Grade Manuel Cabochan, James Layug and Arturo Pascua Jr; Lieutenants Eugene Peralta and Andy Torrato; First Lieutenants Billy Pascua and Jonnel Sanggalang; Ensign Armand Pontejos; Cpl. Clecarte Dahan; Privates First Class Juanito Jilbury, Emmanuel Tirador and German Linde. Velasco said the PNP's charge sheet included several John and Jane Does whom he said may include the financiers and other supporters of last Thursday's incident. He said that one of those included in the charge sheet, Herman Tiu Laurel, was charged not as a media practitioner but as an "active participant." Laurel writes a column for The Daily Tribune newspaper. "He was not there covering the event but actively participating in the rebellion," Velasco said. Civilians charged included Guingona, Labayen, Nemenzo, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV; Fr Robert Reyes; Lawyer JV Bautista; Lawyer Argee Guevarra; Julius Mesa; Cezari Yassir Gonzalez; Antonio Trillanes III; Myrna Buendia; Dominador Rull Jr; Romeo Solis; Roel Gadon; Rommel Loreto; Julian Advincula; Francisco Bosi; Leodor dela Cruz; Sonny Madarang; Elizabeth Siguion-Reyna; and Francisco Peñaflor. - GMANews.TV