THE nine junior officers who were convicted by a Makati court on coup charges should accept their fate that they could no longer rejoin the military even if President Arroyo grants them executive clemency, defense and military officials said on Monday.

Army Capts. Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo and the seven other members of the Magdalo group could not reenter the military service, as this is one of the two conditions in the recommended conditional pardon that would be sent to President Arroyo, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff, said.

The other condition, according to the two, is for the nine junior officers to avoid violating any law, or else, the pardon would be immediately revoked.

Teodoro said they expect to forward the recommendation to the President on Monday. Still, he said the grant of clemency solely rests on Mrs. Arroyo.

“We recommend a conditional pardon for these officers…the pardon will be effective so long as they do not violate any law, especially any crime involving moral turpitude. If not, they will serve the unexpired portion of the term of their sentence,” Teodoro said.

“There is a second condition—that they will not be allowed to rejoin the military,” he added.

Esperon said the officers, who admitted wrongdoing in joining the July 2003 foiled coup, can join other agencies of the government or even the private sector by working as security consultants or officials.

He said 53 other officers considered as noncore members of the Magdalo group, who have been pardoned, are now working as security consultants, earning even more than twice his salary as Armed Forces chief of staff.

Esperon said some had joined the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency where they can put to good use their idealism and their leadership and combat training. Some are set to join the Presidential Antismuggling Group.

He denied the claim of Trixie Angeles, lawyer of two officers who are undergoing court martial for their alleged involvement in the 2006 coup, that the recommendation for pardon was prearranged and was in exchange for the nine officers’ admission of guilt.

“I am not playing any script. I am not playing by my retirement date. I have no script. I am just doing my job. They coursed a letter through me, appealing for pardon. I have tried and jailed them. Maybe it’s about time that I should also act in their favor,” Esperon said.

Teodoro said defense and military officials expected such reaction from Angeles and from the other defense lawyers.

Asked on whether the admission of Gambala and his colleagues of their offense would affect Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and the other defendants in the case, the defense secretary said it would not.

“Technically it will not because this is a guilty plea of the nine officers based on their own participation in the coup case. Senator Trillanes has his own defense and the court will decide on the basis of what he may present,” he said.

Administration’s flair for secrecy hit

Other than its reported penchant for corruption, there is another trait that distinguishes the Arroyo administration from previous administrations—its flair for secrecy, which is denying the people of their right to information and to be appraised of issues that directly affect them.

NUEVA ECIJA—Panic buying of cheap National Food  Authority (NFA) rice continues in high gear amost everywhere, and in Metro Manila, mayors are now asking the Department of Agriculture to put up more rolling stores and rice-distribution centers in their jurisdictions.

INTERIOR Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Monday ordered an investigation into the alleged link between unidentified officials and employees of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and their possible involvement in carjacking.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Zamboanga City police has come out with the artist’s sketch of one of the three persons, believed to be Abu Sayyaf bandits, responsible for the two explosions that rocked this city on Sunday morning.

NOTING that the present law on sexual harassment did not deter the commission of that crime, legislators representing the women sector are seeking to add more teeth to the law by amending it and providing for stiffer penalties.

THE nine junior officers who were convicted by a Makati court on coup charges should accept their fate that they could no longer rejoin the military even if President Arroyo grants them executive clemency, defense and military officials said on Monday.

THE heads of the National Police and the military on Monday expressed no objections to the country’s ratification of the 1998 Rome statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), but maintained that local courts are capable of handling cases of human-rights abuses, particularly extrajudicial killings.

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the petitions filed by former Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino and Col. Eduardo Año, seeking to quash the subpoenas issued against them by the appellate court requiring their appearance in the ongoing hearing on the petition for the issuance of a writ of amparo in connection with the disappearance of Jonas Burgos.