By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Ex-Marine Commandant Major General Renato Miranda has urged the military to release eight of his men, who are his co-accused for mutiny before a court-martial, for the “common good,” and that he alone be left to stand trial.
“My position is to release all those who are currently detained and allow them to either opt to leave the service or continue their service to God, country and people,” Miranda said in a statement released on Sunday.
“I strongly reiterate that in the dispensation of justice, my position is — I be found guilty first before my subordinates are even subjected to the process,” said Miranda, who is detained at Camp Capinpin in Tanay town, Rizal province with his men, and their co-accused from the Army Scout Rangers.
They are facing court martial for their alleged roles in a supposed coup plot in February last year.
“Current events that have unfolded necessitates a political will on the part of our leadership to allow the pool of talents currently rendered idle in Tanay to be of use for the common good,” he said.
Miranda did not mention a specific issue, but the Marine Corps was in the news recently due to heavy losses in fighting with Abu Sayyaf bandit and Moro rebels in Basilan.
The accused Marines include two recipients of the Medal of Valor, the military’s highest combat honor, Colonel Ariel Querubin and Lieutenant Colonel Custodio Parcon.
Since July 10, 29 Marines have been killed, 10 of whom were beheaded, in two encounters in the southern island province. The August 18 encounter in Silangkom village Ungkaya Pukan town drew controversy after soldiers from the Force Reconnaissance Battalion were sent to the frontlines and were killed.
“I have no reason to doubt that these fine gentlemen will deliver, given the proper marching orders,” Miranda said.
“In the meantime, I will fight my own battle in the legal arena,” he added.
The mutiny trial of the 28 Army Scout Rangers and Marine officers opened in December last year, but the accused have not been arraigned after they questioned the legality of the charges.
They also ejected several presidents of the six-man court martial panel through a “peremptory challenge,” wherein an accused can remove a court member, without laying grounds, at any time before their arraignment.
The other Marine officers detained in Tanay are Colonels Armand Bañez, Orlando de Leon, and Januario Caringal, Lieutenant Colonel Achilles Segumalian, Major Francisco Ferrer, and First Lieutenant Belinda Ferrer, Miranda’s former aide.
Querubin and ex-Scout Rangers chief Brigadier General Danilo Lim allegedly planned to lead a mass withdrawal of support from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is accused of rigging the 2004 elections, on February 24, 2006.
Miranda allegedly knew of the plot. His sudden relief prompted Querubin to lead a standoff at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio on February 26, 2006
Full Statement of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda
Maj Gen R Miranda is proving to be worthier NOW than this Esperon duwag will ever be! Good! I’m sure Miranda can pin down Esperon to the floor with an arm behind his back – kasi ang pu&çu_&ç_(ç_ç(_nang Esperon na yan, nagtatapangtapangan pa, eh sabi nga ni Magno, kailangan pa ng maykroskop para makita iyong ulo ng ispili…
Gloria and Esperon will soon be eating dust! “I be found guilty first before my subordinates are even subjected to the process.”
Said like a true Marine!
Hi good day…
I just came from Tanay after visiting my husband. He is incarcerated inside the AFP Joint Task Force Custodian, a high detention cell which is inside the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Camp Capinpin, Tanay.
I would just like to share the real situation and conditions of the soldiers inside and how their families are suffering…
A conjugal house with 17 small rooms and four toilets is the place where the dependents of the 66 prisoners stay when they visit. The small bedrooms are just enough for two twin beds with little space to move in and out of the bedroom where a family of 3 to 5 or more would share. Originally there were only nine (9) rooms being shared by everyone. If more than 9 families will visit, the others would stay in tents or in make-shift rooms with blankets and curtains as cover just to have a little privacy. There were four (4) other rooms being occupied by the security and ISG (Intelligence Service Group) men. Due to lack of rooms, some officers were able to convince the Commanding Officer in the detention to remove the security and ISG personnel from the building and made additional eight (8) rooms. The four (4) toilets are being used as bathrooms too.
From carpentry to electrical connections to plumbing, the prisoners themselves do the work with the financial help from family and friends, to make additional rooms, screen the whole place, install exhaust fans, and fix the water system and drainage. Gallons of liquid sosa have been used to unclog the drainage which until now is still clogged from time to time. And more improvements have to be done like screening the detention cell for the soldiers among many others.
Last Friday, I noticed that there was a fence being constructed around the conjugal house which is half way done today. As if the steel door which is being locked at night and window grills all over the conjugal house and heavy security inside are not enough security measures. The security men are all over the place, inside and outside the detention compound. The conjugal house is inside the detention compound inside Camp Capinpin.
Moreover, families of the prisoners have to undergo strict scrutiny in the main gate where ID cards have to be surrendered and have to get clearance from G2 and the detention center and have to wait from 15 to 30 minutes before they can go inside the camp. The vehicles with or without AFP car pass have to be parked in the gym near the gate and a small commuter van will ferry all the visitors and all their things to the detention area, that is, if a vehicle is available. So if not, the visitors have to wait again.
When they arrive at the detention center, the visitors which are the wives, children, parents, brothers and sisters and relatives up to the 2nd degree of consanguinity and affinity, are told to sign two (2) log books. One logbook is for the detention center and the other one is for the ISG. And sometimes, the visitors have to wait again for clearance to enter.
Some relatives of the prisoners come from places as far as Ifugao, Baguio, Pangasinan, Cebu, Iloilo and Mindanao and when they arrive in Tanay, they have to wait sometimes more than an hour before they can finally see their loved one.
And when we leave the camp, we have to sign out again including the children’s names.
The supposedly camp regulations are indiscriminately being enforced to the dependents of the prisoners only.
Why is this so? If it is camp security they are after, then why enforce it to the families of the prisoners only?
They make a policy and yet they can not even sustain it. They do not even have a vehicle available at any given time that is why the visitors have to wait. Our sources said that these new policies are under the strict orders of Gen Mesa of PMA Class 1975 and Col Tolentino of PMA Class 1987.
Why do they have to fence the conjugal area? They said they have no money that is why they can not even screen the detention cell of the prisoners. Until now, the soldiers have to use mosquito nets to protect them from the big mosquitoes and flies in Tanay.
Who are the ones suffering from all these? Of course, the families of the prisoners, especially, the wives and children, are the ones really suffering. Not only physical suffering but mental torture too, not to mention the financial aspect. At the end of our short stay with our husbands, as we bid them goodbye, we can not help but think about the uncertainties of our future. Until when do we have to go thru this kind of life… Until when do we have to see our children crying and clinging to their dad, not wanting to leave him behind… Until when do we have to suffer the injustices…
But despite all these, we will continue our fight for truth and justice until our husbands are set free….
We have learned to count our blessings. We thank the Lord that our husbands are alive and very safe inside the high detention center.
Ellen,
Re Gen Mesa of PMA Class 1975 : As I posted once, Gen Mesa is the most convoluted officer I know – I’m not surprised that he’s making lives of the families of the incarcerated prisoners as miserable as possible. He has an inferiority complex and so anyone who is normal and courageous like the officers and men of honour imprisoned today, he just can’t stand…
Mesa, I once told you to your face that you were a shithead (in Paris) and now I double that, shithead, shithead!
Really, Anna? What did he do to deserve that?
Ellen,
He was being haughty (told you he thinks he knows everything) and really unbelieveably being a jerk, so I pointed my finger at him and said, “You know Colonel, (he was a colonel then), I don’t mind people who boast if they know things but people who do when they know nothing are shitheads!”
Galit siya sa akin – saying “Who do you think you are to call me a shithead?” I told him, “Prove to me you’re not a shithead?”
Inawat lang kami nang isang colonel…
Ellen,
Ang takaw pa ng walanghiyang Mesa na yan! Kaya bundat!
The very brief period that I saw him the other week at the court martial hearing, he really looked unpleasant.
Thanks a lot Marine Wife for your letter. These soldiers indeed don’t deserve where they are right now. Compare them to that Gen. Garcia who was convicted of plunder, the soldiers have not been convicted yet. While in detention, Gen. Garcia received VIP treatment. If he was being asked to appear in the hearing, he faked illness and stayed in luxurious hospital suite for days. And where is this Gen. Garcia now? Is he still around or sent abroad? That case has no closure because other culprits involving the higher command have never been investigated. Please tell the soldiers and Marines that people are behind them. This blog composed of brave and patriotic members will continue to support them. It won’t be long. They shall be finally free . Our prayers are with them always!
Marine wife,
Your letter makes me angry & sad. To say that the soldiers of Esperon are inhumane is an understatement.
I second the motion of Pechanco: ” Please tell the soldiers and Marines that people are behind them. This blog composed of brave and patriotic members will continue to support them. It won’t be long. They shall be finally free . Our prayers are with them always!”
Amen to that !
Anna,
Next time you have the opportunity, balibagin mo ng mesa ang terror na Gen. Mesa at ng tuluyan ng mabaldado ang buong katawan.
With all the good intentions of Gen. Miranda, I doubt if Gloria and Asspweron will even consider his proposal since these evil twins have no political will, and scared to death of a free “Men of Honor”.
Baka matapos kaagad ang gera kapag ang nag-direct ay mga Medal of Valor Awardees, mawawalan ang mga korap ng “business”!
General Miranda, what took you so long to make your plea? Why did you give up so easily on your position as the commandant of the marines to one of the Garci Generals, Allaga? Knowing fully well how the tiyanak and her prostrituted generals operate, you should not have believed them that in your giving up your position they will follow the gentlemen’s agreement, that they will not touch your men if you resigned. You should have known better then.
Well, too much ado on spilled milk. Somehow, you wrote the much needed plea. But do you think the drunken( with power, money and yes, expensive cognac)generals will listen to you now? Maybe you should just tell the Filipinos what really happened in February to spare everyone from the court martial proceedings. Sayang lang ang panahon at pera. Sayang lang ang hinanakit ng mga pamilya na katulad ni Marine wife at ng mga anak ng nakakulong na sundalo.
It takes decades to hone an officer into a strategist to fight the enemy and 28 of you are in detention instead of doing what you were trained to do. Sabihin na ninyo kung ano talaga ang nangyaring dayaan sa eleksyon, kung paano nangungurakot and mga generals ni tiyanak…sabihin na ninyo kung ano talaga itong sinasabi nilang “coup” na wala naman. Sabihin na ninyo…para matapos na. Kung si Mayuga ay walang bayag na magbunyag ng nalalaman nila sa dayaan noong 2004 elections, sabihin na ninyo kung ano at sino ang mga kasangkot.
I hope tiyanak’s generals will listen to your plea. But why do I have this nagging feeling in my stomach that tiyanak’s generals do not have any compassion for the valiant officers who have the heart for our country?
I have a feeling too that Gen. Miranda’s plea would just pass from right to left ear!
Pero, saludo po ako sa inyo, General! Dapat humalik sa paa mo si Asspweron! Naninindigan ka sa TAMA kahit na mag-isa lang! Hindi na makayang saktan pa ang mga taong-bayan! Alam mong ang sakop mo ay tiyak na makakatulong sa kanila! Ikaw ay isang tunay na LIDER! MABUHAY KA GENERAL LIM! Maraming salamat!
Sana magising na ang mga tao at MAGKAISA!
#Panahon na bayan para ipaglaban ninyo ang KATOTOHANAN!°
“Maybe you should just tell the Filipinos what really happened in February to spare everyone from the court martial proceedings.”
PSB,
I pray that Gen. Miranda will consider your line. It’s the best that he can do under the present circumstances. Afterall, his plea will definitely be shot down by Gluerilla and Asspweron.
Magkamatayan na lahat ang sundalo sa Basilan but the evil duo will refuse to see the reason behind Gen. Miranda’s plea.
I share Parasabayan’s sentiment. Pleading or making plea with this GMA government is like traveling from earth to planet Pluto. Ang ganitong klaseng gobyerno natin ay hindi nadadala sa pakiusap. Kapal ang mukha at walang awa. Further plea would only legitimize this illegal administration. In the end, sa amo nila makikinig ang mga kurakot na Heneral na iyan.
Miranda and a few would still be where they are. Pero hindi bale…nasa likod sila ng bayan. Many of their comrades are just waiting for signal to finally oust this administration.
Hindi ba yong ginawa ni Gen. Miranda ay ang ibig sabihin ng Command Responsibility? He is the commander and he is higher in rank than the other detainees..thus he is asking for them to be freed at siya na lang ang maiiwan.
..To Marine Wife..we keep you all in our prayers..and we will not stop praying for you and your families..
So sisiw lang pala ang condition namin sa civilian jail compared with Tanay. After committing horrible crimes we can even go on pass. We use the comfortable airconned office of the warden for conjugal visits. No papers to sign. They know we bring in shabu, iron files, etc. We can still continue with our respective trades and our handlers made sure we bring back some gifts. Ang malas lang ay ang mga sumasaway sa mga guardia. Cell phones? We use our own that is being used by the guards. In a few days we can go scot free. Lalu na kung magaling ang aming atty.
Elvira: “I have a feeling too that Gen. Miranda’s plea would just pass from right to left ear.”
True, Elvira because unlike Esperon and his girlfriend, all human beings have this organ between the ears that catches the spoken words and processes them.
It’s called a brain.
Take note, it’s Marine Wife who has just joined us. She is different from Military wife. Two different persons who are now members of our “family” here.
General Miranda has already reached the peak of his carreer but most of his men are barely there. Next year he will be retiring. General Miranda, your greatest legacy will be to free your men. Let them have the opportunity to reach their potential. If it means spilling the beans on these rotten generals who are lording over you, so be it! Your mouth was shut all this time. Maybe it is time for you to do a “doble talk”. The marines will build monuments for you in Basilan, Tipo-tipo and Sulu. Promise, I will do a fund raising for this endeavour! Just talk more, will you?
Welcome to all the wives of these incarcerated officers. May your tribe increase. Puede nang magtayo ng another Gabriela Silang movement versus the impakta! Kung may maitutulong kami ng mga tropa ko, just holler!
Grabe ang insulto ng mga ungas sa mentality ng mga pilipino. Di ba sa loob na nga ng kampo ng AFP ang mga trials, etc. na iyan? Bakit kailangan pa ang barbed wire fencing? Bagay, mismong mga nanunungkulan ngayon under Esperon, kasama yata sa nakawan inside the military base. Tindi!
Latest development:
Last night, part of the Gloria Arroyo and Esperon’s paranoia, among the accused who are in Fort Bonifacio for medical treatment were ordered to go back to Camp Capinpin. On their way there, the vehicle they were riding on caught fire. Some of the officers were hurt.
Ellen: hindi kaya na sabotage ang sasakyan? Wala bang doctor sa Camp Capinpin?
There’s an infirmary.
TonGuE-tWisTeD Says:
September 10th, 2007 at 6:26 am
Elvira: “I have a feeling too that Gen. Miranda’s plea would just pass from right to left ear.”
True, Elvira because unlike Esperon and his girlfriend, all human beings have this organ between the ears that catches the spoken words and processes them.
It’s called a brain.
***
Hahhahah! Swak na swak mo, Tongue.
Col de leon burned his hand when the DELICA they were riding on the way to Tanay got burned. They arrived in Tanay very late last night or very early this morning.
The AFP is so paranoid already. I think this is not because of Senator Ping’s visit but because of the forthcoming verdict of President Erap.
Remember the “STATE OF AMNESIA” statement they made after the hearing where they enumerated the issues that President Arroyo has to deal with like Hello Garci, the Basilan tragedy, extra-judicial killings? When it came out in the papers and TV, after the August 16 court martial hearing, Major Sydney Atega, the commanding officer in the detention, and all the security were immediately relieved. Major Henry Ambing was installed as new CO the following Friday, just one week after, Senator Ping visited the prisoners in Tanay.
Even before the turnover of all security personnel, an addditional Commander was again assigned in the detention. So they now have a Major, LCOL and a COL looking after them.
Aksidente lang kaya? Baka order pa rin ni Asspweron na pasabugin ang sasakyan ng mga opisyal kaya lang ay naagapan!
“cort” should be court
Marine wife,
We’re happy you joined us. Yup, it’s all about Erap’s forthcoming verdict.
They’re so scared of their own ghosts. Your hubby and others will be free soon. Gluerilla’s time is up, Asspweron can no longer take care of his ” sugar baby”
Do you know that during the last hearing, I was assigned a buddy, a female Sgt – who I jokingly said was my aide. Wherever I go, she would tag along…
Also during the hearing, they placed barbed wires from one end of the street to the corner of a building to separate the media from the prisoners or even the lawyers. They are very much afraid of what the prisoners can reveal.
I told a General there that with what they are doing, nakakatawa at nakakaawa at nakakainis sila. There were no rallyists there just a handful of guests.
But they do not realize that while they make a fool of themselves in the security preparation and during the hearing, the soldiers in the active service are just watching and listening… although forced to implement the policies but they also process in their minds what is happening. They have to do their job because they have a family to feed and children to send to school.
RESPECT BEGETS RESPECT. How could we still respect a person like Gen Esperon who does not even know how to respect the constitution, even just the basic human rights of people.
Even our small children have developed hatred towards Gen Esperon because they know he is the reason, their father is behind bars.
One morning, when my youngest son woke up, he said: “Mommy, I had a nice dream… I was a super hero and I fought with Gen Esperon and I hanged him in the flagpole and daddy was free…”
Hindi ka nag-iisa, Marine Wife. Ang mga sundalo kahit na mga opisyales ay lihim na may simpatya sa inyo. It takes only one little thing to trigger the one we’re long waiting for. That little thing is already there. It just needs someone to light it. Kapag pumutok, sigurado kong marami sa mga sundalo ang sasama sa inyo.
Rose: hindi kaya na sabotage ang sasakyan? Wala bang doctor sa Camp Capinpin?
*****
CNN reported today that 80% Filipino doctors now are retraining to be nurses so they can work overseas. 20% na lang ang natitira pero papaalis na rin ang marami. The report also says that there are hospitals now in the Philippines without a doctor for a year or two. Ganoon katindi ang situation.
Iyon namang doctor sa Capinpin baka busy naman sa Baseco checking the kidneys, etc. internal organs of the residents there for possible exportation overseas. Malaki yata ang share nila sa pagbebenta ng mga internal organs na ito.
Chi,
Utak kamote talaga! Walang duda itong si Boba, Boba, Boyba, et al.
I cannot understand why unano and her publicity would even try to condition the minds of the Filipinos that Erap is going to be assassinated on the day he will be convicted in accordance with her order. Gusto ba talaga nilang mag-alsa ang mga pilipino kahit hindi nila kaya?
Huwag katitiyak si Glueria na hindi magtatagumpay ang mga pilipinong tulog. Sabi nga, magbiro ka na sa lasing, huwag lang sa bagong gising!
O gising na ba ang mga pilipino?
I’m sure Mesa, knowing that there’s been incidents of peremptory challenges including out of martial law context, must have said, “Hindi uubra sa akin yan!”, and so is trying to be his goond unpleasant self.
(He exclaimed the same phrase about another officer who was his senior, a then vice-com of the Army, when I told him that the said officer had already decided on something. I told him, “Would you like me to tell the general and quote you verbatim, Colonel?” He clammed up but I knew he was seething mad but he knew that I didn’t suffer fools.)
Mesa is gunning for a more senior post and so would do anything to please Esperon, I think he’s got another 2 years in the AFP… Pati English niyan, baluktot or maybe he’s so convoluted, lahat ng phrases niya sa English, nag kakangiwi-ngiwi.
If a military man expresses himself by training along these lines:
1. I present the subject
2. I explain
3. I expand
4. I recommend
5. I close
Siya baligtad…no. 4 muna followed by no. 2 then by no.3 then no. 1 tapos of course, no. 5.
Asspweron is so predictable! Hindi umubra ang plea ni Miranda. Mas marami daw silang capable na officers sa labas ng kulungan. Bakero(Bacarro) must be referring to the officers who are “capable” to lie, cheat, steal and kill. Marami nga talaga sila sa labas kasi yung mga mahuhusay talaga sa hindi katarantaduhan, nasa loob. Ang tawag pa sa “men of honor” ay criminals daw. Si tiyanak at asspweron ang mga kriminal dahil nandaya sila sa eleksyon, pinapatay nila ang mga marines sa walang kabuluhang gera-gerahan! Kung may mga kriminal sila yun! Si tiyanak at ang mga ganid niyang alipores.
General Miranda, mas maganda kung ibuking na lang ninyo kung paano nandaya si asspweron at ng mga Garci generals noong 2004 para matapos na itong moro-moro kangaroo court ninyo. Ibuking na rin ninyo kung paano nangungurakot ang mga ito. Saan nga ba yung properties ni asspweron sa Australia? Baka naman hindi ninyo natututukan yun baka ibinenta na kasi bistado na siya.
Bakero, dahan dahan ka ng pananalita mo baka bukas makalawa, ikaw naman ang nasa loob ng kulungan. Hindi malayong mangyari, di ba?
masakit, napakasakit isipin na ang mga pinunong inaakalang kagalanggalang at nararapat sundin upang pangalagaan ang katahimikan at kapayapaan ng ating bansa ang siya pang unang unang lumalabag at sumusupil sa karapatang makamit ang patas at pantay na hustisya. sila rin ‘yung mga namumunong nasilaw sa kinang ng salaping itinapal sa mata upang umastang bulag, ibinusal sa bibig upang magkunwaring pipi at ipinasak sa tenga upang magbingibingihan sa mga katiwaliang lantarang kinasasangkutan ng huwad at sinungaling na umaastang pangulo ng bansa na hindi hinalal ng taong bayan.
paano nila nasisikmurang gawin ang ganito mismo sa mga kapatid sa serbisyong naging kasakasama nila sa larangan? mga kapwa opisyal at kawal na itinaya ang sariling buhay para sa bayan at isinugal ang karangalan upang huwag maging kasangkapan sa talamak na kawalang pakundangan ng manhid, tiwaling mapagkunwari at ganid na pambansang pamunuan?
Marine wife, thanks for joining this forum. Our prayers are with the men of honor who are being persecuted by the liar, the cheat and the thief.
Please continue to keep us posted, Marine Wife. May you find some consolation even at least in this blog. We all love you and your family.
This was my thought on March 03, 2006, which I posted in Dean’s blog:
On the subject of MajGen Renato Miranda (gross injustice?):
Col Querubin stated that he and his men decided to mutiny (on 25th Feb) after learning that their commandant (Miranda) was relieved of his command in spite of the fact that he (Querubin & his men) had agreed not to mutiny earlier on.
We also learned (simultaneously from the press) that MajGen Miranda himself had decided to resign his command because his Flag Officer In Command (FOIC) had informed him that he was thinking of relieving him. Miranda therefore jumped the gun (??? and resigned???).
Why didn’t the FOIC refuse Miranda’s resignation or re-instate him, after all Querubin had stated unequivocally that he had been persuaded by Miranda earlier on not to mutiny? Miranda should have been decorated instead of relieved!
TT,
O, di ba…katatapos lang nating sabihin na from left to right daraan, nagkatotoo na! Ganun nga, tumpak ka…NO brain! hik,hik,hik!
I couldn’t help but cry reading the revelations of Marine wife! I’d like to share something to these prisoners…Pls. tell me how, Ellen!
BTW, we’re too busy nowadays, my only chance to read is shortly before bedtime!