Top army officers cleared of charges

Top military men cleared three ranking officers who were recommended by the senate to undergo a court martial proceeding for alleged collusion with the Abu Sayyaf group.

Despite criticism from the public, the military institution maintained that the alleged erring military men did not help the bandits escape from a military dragnet near a hospital in the southern Philippines in June, 2001.

"I was still chief of the southern command during the inquiry and I stressed then that there was never a collusion between the military men and the Abu Sayyaf leaders. I still maintain that view," said armed forces vice-chief, Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling.

Lt. Gen. Camiling defended Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, Col. Juvenal Narcise and Maj. Eliseo Campued who were accused earlier by Basilan parish priest, Cirilo Nacorda, of leaving the town on June 2, 2001, after money changed hands between the families of the hostages and the Abu Sayyaf leaders.

Lt. Gen. Camiling was relieved as southern command chief shortly after the Lamitan incident.
His post went to current Armed forces chief of staff, General Roy Cimatu, who was then deputy chief of staff.

Also relieved at that time were Dominguez, former 1st infantry division commander and currently chief of the 8th infantry division; Narcise, former commander of the 103rd brigade and currently chief of the 702nd brigade.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Eduardo Purificacion, also took up cudgels for the accused military men.

"We had an inquiry and the accused were cleared of any collusion with the Abu Sayyaf group," he stated.

Brig. Gen. Purificacion explained that the board of inquiry was formed after former army inspector general, Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Rivera, came out with a report last year which said there was a two-hour delay in the arrival of reinforcements, which was why the Abu Sayyaf group managed to escape with their hostages, some of whom also managed to escape.

At that time, former AFP chief, General Diomedio Villanueva, had promised to send reinforcements such as the AFP counter terrorist force, said the report.

The report added that further pursuit operations were delayed because of the presence of government dignitaries such as Defence Secretary, Angelo Reyes, and Gen. Villanueva in Lamitan.

Lt. Gen. Camiling said the military investigative body, headed by Rivera, had cleared the three officers. There was no other inquiry conducted after that, he added.

Armed Forces Judge Advocate General, Col. Manuel Ibanez, explained that the Senate's recommendation for court martial proceedings will still undergo pre-charge and pre-trial investigations.

"It will now depend on what prima facie evidence will be found for the court-martial proceedings to begin," Col. Ibanez added.

Twenty senators recommended the court-martial of the three officers. Senators Ramon Magsaysay (chairperson of the committee on national defence), Ramon Revilla, Renato Cayetano, Ralph Recto and Edgardo Angara approved the report without revision.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon agreed there was strong circumstantial evidence to pin down the three officers on the charges of collusion.

"Why would the Abu Sayyaf leaders proceed directly to Lamitan after they landed in Basilan?

Lamitan is predominantly a Christian community. Even at the height of the activities of the Moro National Liberation Front during the 1970s, Lamitan was never attacked," Biazon noted.

But Senator Gregorio Honasan complained, saying that the committee report was incomplete since culpability under the principle of command responsibility did not extend to the top ranking generals.

It was clear that Villanueva and Reyes were in Basilan and Zamboanga to "micromanage" the whole affair, at that time, Honasan added.

The senate committees also failed to prove the allegations that the military officers pocketed part of the ransom money that was paid for the release of the hostages, said other critics.

In his testimony, the parish priest, Nacorda, said several hostages were released after payment of between P25 million ($500,000) and P27 million ($540,000).

He noted that a total of P10 million ($200,000) went to military officials, P10 million to the Abu Sayyaf, and "the rest to local government officials".

Nacorda expressed hope that the lower house of the bicameral congress would address the ransom issue.

Congressman Prospero Pichay, committee chairperson in the lower house of congress, said the final draft on the same issue is finished.