San Juan turns back on Magdaló comrades



By Anthony Vargas, Reporter

San Juan turns back on Magdaló comrades



“I reaffirm my allegiance to the Constitution and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” San Juan said.

Rumors had surfaced in past weeks that San Juan, who belongs to the elite Light Reaction Company (LRC), had broken off from the Magdaló.

“I know that some will doubt my actions, while some will understand. I would like everyone to know that my statement was borne out of belief that this is the right thing to do,” he said.

He made it clear that he was not “coerced, dictated [to], threatened or promised a reward.”

San Juan apologized to his family, to the Armed Forces and to the Filipino people for the “damage” he had caused.

He said he thought that joining the Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003, and escaping from detention in Fort Bonifacio on January 17 would solve the problems besetting the military.

“I never expected that the pursuit of my goal would lead me to talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army,” he said.

San Juan was arrested shortly after reportedly meeting with NPA leaders in Batangas on February 21.

Striking a deal with the NPA

Speaking through his wife Evelyn and his lawyer, Roel Pulido, following his arrest, San Juan denied that he made a deal with leftist rebels.

On Friday he said that among those he talked with in Batangas was Tirso Alcantara, a ranking member of the CPP-NPA’s Central Committee.

In March a senior intelligence officer told reporters that the Magdaló was forming an alliance with the Left and had renamed their group MKP.

Minutes before San Juan read his statement, Bacarro read a letter supposedly written by San Juan recently and addressed to the Army chief, Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

In it San Juan apologized for rebelling against the government and said that he was “deeply embarrassed” and felt guilty for what he had done.

“I was blinded by my self-centeredness, arrogance and ego . . . My solitude gave me time to communicate with God and reflect,” San Juan said in the letter.

Bacarro said San Juan’s rejoining the side of the government will have no effect on the charges he is facing before civilian and military courts.

“There will be no changes . . . charges will be pursued. He [San Juan] will be subjected to the same restrictions,” Bacarro said.

Recaptured escapees

San Juan’s fellow escapees from Fort Bonifacio were recaptured along with several other Magdaló members during a predawn raid in a subdivision in Quezon City last week.

Recaptured were Army Capt. Nathaniel Rabonza and 1st Lieutenants Sonny Sarmiento and Patricio Bumidang Jr., and arrested with them were 2nd Lieutenants Angelbert Gay and Aldrin Baldonado and Navy Lt. Kiram Sadava.

A lawyer, Jose Christopher Belmonte, and a civilian Michael Yangson were also detained. On Friday, police said the names of 10 politicians who could have financed or supported the operations of the Magdaló were found in laptops after the raid on the group’s safe house in Quezon City.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief, Director Jesus Versoza, refused to reveal the identities of the supposed Magdaló backers and mentioned only that there were true names of politicians and others in code cited in the documents filed in the laptops.

Versoza said some of the names were also mentioned by former ambassador Roy Señeres.

Señeres had claimed immediately after Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim’s withdrawal-of-support video came out that the failed coup attempt on February 24 had been backed by prominent businessmen and politicians.

Señeres’s list

Señeres had mentioned former Executive Secretary Oscar Orbos, former Defense Secretary Renato de Villa, Associated Broadcasting Co. (ABC-5) chairman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, construction mogul Felipe F. Cruz Jr. and business tycoon Iñigo Zobel as among those who “encouraged” Lim to break from the chain of command.

Señeres also named former journalist Cecilio Arillo as Orbos’s link to Lim and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who was reportedly being considered for a place in the transition council that will take over after the President is ousted.

Versoza refused to confirm if Cojuangco, Cruz and Zobel were named in the documents recovered from the Magdaló safe house.

He instead said that the CIDG was still verifying the possible participation of the politicians in the Magdaló’s activities.

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