Military officers involved in last year’s coup plot ordered detained (tags)
— Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. ordered the detention here of all the military officers involved in last year’s foiled coup attempt. Esperon effectively wanted all those implicated in the power grab detained in one facility, directing the various commands to relinquish custody of the 28 officers charged before the General Court Martial to effectively acquire jurisdiction over them. The announcement came after the arraignment of the 28 accused officers was rescheduled after defense lawyers demanded to see a copy of the pre-trial investigation.
2 Filipino military rebel officers ‘mentally’ tortured, wives claim (tags)
The wives of two Filipino military rebel junior officers have claimed their husbands are being “mentally tortured” by the Army since their capture six months ago. Philippine Army 1st Lt. Sonny Sarmiento and 2nd Lt. Aldrin Baldonado have been kept in “bartolina” (solitary confinement) at the maximum-security compound of the Intelligence Security Group (ISG) at Fort Bonifacio since July 27, their wives said. They said the two officers were not being adequately fed, and deprived of reading materials and personal grooming items like combs.
AFP orders court-martial to 30 officers (tags)
TWO generals and 28 other military officers will face court-martial for their alleged participation in the abortive coup against the Arroyo administration in February. The two generals to face court-martial are Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, former Marine Corps commandant and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, former commander of the elite First Scout Ranger Regiment.
Update on the AFP Military Rebels (tags)
For the people’s democratic forces, it is just plain killings, disappearances or torture in jail. For military rebels, it’s a different kind of torture. News sources revealed today that the combination of “solitary confinement, intrigues, unsolicited acts of kindness, and even continuous blaring of [heavy] metal music” has taken a toll on the detained Magdalo rebel soldiers, according to the former legal counsel of one of them.