By Joel Guinto
Inquirer.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdVZ2dJcl2k&feature=related
or here:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=yuka2888
Fugitive Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon said he was prepared to die in the pursuit of his “vision” to arouse “national consciousness.”
Faeldon surfaced on the popular video sharing website YouTube almost six months after he eluded arrest during a failed uprising by rebel soldiers on November 29 last year.
He is shown in what appear to be four interviews, all undated. The videos’ timestamps show they were posted on May 5.
“It’s about setting your mind for the worst case scenario, which is I can be killed. If you’re too dangerous, if your ideas [are] too strong against theirs, papatayin ka nila [they will kill you],” he said.
“You have to create national consciousness among the majority of the people, national consciousness is achieving unity,” he said. “This is a situation where the Filipino people have agreed and united behind ideas and aspirations.”
Faeldon was answering questions from an interviewer with a male-sounding voice, whose face was not shown in the video. The Marine officer was in camouflage uniform, standing in front of a white curtain.
“That’s really him, and that has been his message ever since. We had to validate first, and it’s confirmed,” Faeldon’s lawyer, Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a text message, when sought for comment.
But Angeles said she did not know when the video was made. “I can only go by his appearance. His hair is a little longer than when he left. Otherwise, I have no idea.”
By “left,” Angeles was referring to when Faeldon slipped away during the November 29, 2007 occupation of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati by junior officers belonging to the Magdalo group led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and former Scout Rangers commander Brigadier General Danilo Lim.
They have been charged with rebellion for this incident.
The Magdalo was also behind the occupation of the former Oakwood luxury apartments on July 27, 2003, for which they were charged with coup d’etat.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres Jr. declined to comment on the Faeldon video clips, saying he has not viewed them.
When asked by the interviewer, Faeldon said he would not accept a pardon from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo if it were offered to him because her victory in the 2004 elections remains in doubt amid allegations of vote-rigging.
“In the first place I do not believe she has that authority to pardon me because, as far as I believe, she has no mandate. She is not the president,” he said.
“I never consider her as my commander-in-chief, so she has no right to give pardon to me or to anyone,” he said.
Faeldon first escaped in December 2005 but was recaptured the following month. While on the run, he launched a civil disobedience campaign to press for Arroyo’s resignation.
He also warned that restiveness within the ranks persisted.
“As long as they can see, the soldiers can see irregularities in the government, in the Armed Forces, it [restiveness] will remain,” he said.
Non-violence pa rin ang isinusulong ni Faeldon.
I can understand Faeldon’s sentiment. I feel the same about Gloria Dorobo, whom I never addressed as president. Tawag namin diyan bugaw, magnanakaw, etc.
Pasikat talaga. Nagpadala kuno ng tulong sa Burma para magpapel na naman ang ungas. Kung iyong kapwa niya pilipino di niya matulungan, makikigulo pa sa Burma. Mukhang stepping stone lang noong mga ipinadala niya ang Burma. Baka mamaya mababalitaan nating kunyari nawala sila, dinukot, etc. pero iyong pala, nag-o-overstay na at nagtratrabaho ng ilegal sa Thailand, etc. kalapit bansa ng Burma! Yuck!
Naalala ko tuloy iyong mga journalist daw kuno na kasama ni Ramos noon na nagtangkang mag-overstay sa Japan. Human trafficking, diyan magaling ang mga bugaw!
Ganyan nga, Kapitan Nick…parang lightning strike lang kung lalabas. Insulto personal kay Gloria and her militar ang U-tube ni Kapitan. Hanap ng hanap e sa U-tube pala lalabas. Hahaha!
You may be willing to die for the realization of your vision but Gloria and her militar won’t let you live even for a second if they get to you. Tago lang ng mahigpit Kap, kailangan ka ng bayan!
Faeldon has established a lot of respect from both sides now. A respected fear on the administration. Lets only hope he will not turn into another Honasan. Those were the same visions of the other Magdalos before. Di naman siguro palabiro na mamamatay tulad ni Miriam.
Update:
DND belittles Faeldon’s influence in AFP
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Wednesday belittled the influence and credibility of fugitive Marine officer Capt. Nicanor Faeldon among the officers and men of the Armed Forces after the latter, one of the core leaders of the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, resurfaced through the video sharing website you.tube.com
Faeldon escaped from military custody last Nov. 29 after taking part in the so-called siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City.
In the you.tube four-part video, Faeldon discussed various issues, including his renewed call for national unity and consciousness, and how the Edsa People’s Power I revolt in February 1986 failed to bring economic and political maturity.
He also said that he will not accept any executive pardon from President Arroyo because he does not recognize her legitimacy as president. Arroyo had pardoned early this month nine other Oakwood participants led by two Army captains who had pleaded guilty in a plea bargain with the prosecution.
“You know if a person is on the run, afoul of the law, you know he’ll use asymmetric means to protect himself,” said Teodoro, referring to the videos which were posted by one identifying himself as “Yuka2888.”
“Perhaps the captain, if that is truly him, has nothing else to do but that. But his credibility within the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to me, suffers a lot and he is not a credible spokesman for the sentiments of our soldiers. I don’t think he wields any influence in the Armed Forces of the Philippines at all,” Teodoro said.
“We do not want to glorify Faeldon by reacting to his propaganda. What we know is that he is a fugitive with a P1 million bounty for his capture. Sooner or later, the long arm of the law will catch up with him.”
Teodoro declined to discuss ongoing efforts to rearrest Faeldon who first escaped in December 2005 but was arrested by intelligence agents in Malabon a month later. – Victor Reyes