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THE
lawyer of wanted Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon turned the
tables on the government on Sunday, saying that her
client is being held by security forces and did not
escape as claimed by the government.
Trixie
Angeles, counsel for Faeldon in the court martial that
is trying him for his alleged involvement in the 2003
Oakwood mutiny, said the Armed Forces and the National
Police must account for the missing Marine officer.
“I am
challenging them to make an unbiased investigation of
their own forces,” Angeles said, believing that Faeldon
may have been in the custody of the military.
The
Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon
Jr., considers Faeldon “dangerous,” especially if he
uses his military training against the government.
Esperon
said Faeldon, who is a highly trained demolition expert,
could detonate bombs in Metro Manila if given the
chance.
On
Saturday, the National Police chief, Director General
Avelino Razon Jr., announced that President Arroyo has
offered a P1-million reward for the arrest of the
renegade Marine officer.
“We
expect that the reward offer will encourage people in
the community to provide us information,” Razon said as
he described Faeldon as “armed and dangerous.”
Razon
said teams from the National Police’s Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group and Intelligence Group
are involved in the hunt for Faeldon, as well as three
other Magdalo soldiers who escaped when government
forces stormed the Manila Peninsula Hotel in
Makati
City
on Thursday.
One of
the soldiers has been identified as Cpl. Elmer Colon,
who is employed by the Makati City government as a
“job-order” security guard.
Colon
was seen on TV with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig.
Gen. Danilo Lim wearing a Scout Ranger uniform and a
wig.
Angeles
said that Faeldon told her that he was returning to the
Marine Brig (stockade) in Fort Bonifacio the last time
they talked.
“After
the alleged walkout from the Regional Trial Court of
Makati, Capt. Nicanor Faeldon proceeded with the group
to the Peninsula Hotel. However, after he had been
interviewed en route to the hotel and at the hotel, he
has not been heard of since. He was not among the
accused arrested at the hotel, and he is not in his
detention quarters in
Fort Bonifacio.
He had last informed his counsel that he was returning
to the Marine Brig,” the lawyer said.
Lipa
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles on Sunday appealed to those
who want to bring down the government administration to
stop using spiritual leaders.
“My
conviction is some people are using even bishops for
their own end, because they also tried that on me and
others,” Arguelles said as he disclosed that there are
“persons” who “influenced” Infanta Bishop Emeritus Julio
Labayen and Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches to join
Trillanes’s group at the Peninsula Hotel on Thursday.
Arguelles also appealed to his fellow spiritual leaders
not to compromise their duty to the Filipino people and
reiterated that instead of joining a rebellion, “it is
better to pray for the country.”
Before
leaving for a 10-day European trip, President Arroyo
ordered all concerned government departments and
agencies to be vigilant against any lurking threats to
national security while she is away.
The
President issued the November 30 directive even as she
expressed confidence that Vice President Noli de Castro,
assisted by Cabinet officials led by Executive Secretary
Eduardo Ermita, “shall, as in the past, zealously look
after the national interest.”
“I
hereby direct all government departments and agencies,
especially the security and defense forces, to remain
vigilant against and flush out any remaining threats to
national security and public safety, while at the same
time restoring among our people a state of normalcy and
calm in order to ensure that public governance and
economic progress remain undeterred,” she said in a
memorandum on November 30.
The
President also directed the government’s investigation
and prosecutorial arms “to make certain that the full
force of the law will bear heavily, expeditiously but
with due process, against those who were or are to be
found responsible for Thursday’s disruptive and criminal
acts.”
The
National Press Club (NPC), meanwhile, asked the
Commission on Human Rights to investigate possible
violations of human rights by members of the National
Police in arresting journalists who covered last
Thursday’s Makati hotel siege.
NPC
president Roy Mabasa said the NPC will file an official
complaint on Monday on behalf of the reporters,
columnists and cameramen who were “handcuffed, tied,
loaded into a bus” and taken to the headquarters of the
National Capital Region Police in Camp Bagong Diwa,
Taguig City.
The
Nagkakaisang Pilipino yesterday urged authorities to
apply the full force of the law on Trillanes and Lim and
their cohorts to stop other adventurists from staging
another attempt to destabilize the government and the
people.
Bong
Ferrer, spokesman for the Nagkakaisang Pilipino, an
alliance of concerned groups, said the government did
the right thing by crushing the Manila Pen siege
Thursday, saying the group is ready to take to the
streets in protest of a similar attempt to grab power.
“With
alleged patriots like Trillanes, we don’t need terrorist
to sabotage our country,” he said.
While
the government was trying to attract foreign investors
and looking for ways to address poverty, particularly to
cushion the impact of the rising crude prices in the
world market, Trillanes was courting disaster, he said.
“Trillanes did the most selfish thing of throwing a
tantrum like an individual suffering from an
uncontrolled disease,” he said.
“While
the government is trying to push through with economic
reforms to send the message to the world that we are
ready for investors as the country’s environment and
people are ready for it, here comes Trillanes painting
an exactly different picture for all the world to
see.” (With C. Mocon and J. Perez) |
