General Esperon Orders Court-Martial For Coup Plotters

There’s no justice under corrupt and inept Gloria Arroyo regime. Why these military officers and men should respect their BOGUS-illigitimate commander-in-chief? The ghost of massive 2004 electoral fraud, corruption and favoritism are the root causes of military restiveness. Documentary and physical evidence have confirmed that Mrs. Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts cheated to win the 2004 presidential election. General Esperon and other high ranking officers allegedly conspired with election chief manipulator Virgilio Garcillano to ensure the victory of candidates Gloria Arroyo and Noli De Castro. I salute these principled men for their courage, sacrifice and loyalty to the Filipino people. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the State. Military intervention to protect the interests of the people is justified under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. AFP CS General Hermogenes Esperon and his FAKE commander-in- chief should be the ones behind the bars for stealing the true mandate of the Filipino people. Hang ‘em high!

Junking the Code of Honor

Malaya Editorial
11/21/2006
They can take anything Esperon can throw at them. But deceit is not one of them.’

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon yesterday ordered that 30 Marine and Scout Ranger officers undergo court martial for allegedly seeking to overthrow the administration of Gloria Arroyo. Esperon’s decision, the AFP says, is expected to stop further plotting in the military to oust this administration.
The AFP’s wish is of a piece with Gloria Arroyo’s expectation that her "victory" in the presidential election in 2004 would put away questions over her administration’s legitimacy after grabbing power from Joseph Estrada.
Gloria’s "victory" was the result of her wholesale buying of local "trapos" and, when this could not assure her win, outright cheating at the polling booths and during the canvassing. When the fraud was exposed, Gloria had to resort to force and intimidation to quell the protest and outrage.
The same will result from the court martial of the officers, led by then Marines commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and Scout Rangers chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. Esperon’s directive is characterized by deceit. Nothing reassuring will come out from the process.
It has now surfaced that the team from the Judge Advocate General’s Office which investigated Miranda, Lim et. al. found them innocent of mutiny charges. The panel’s finding was to indict them with the specific charge of disrespect to the commander-in-chief and the catch-all offense conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Esperon, upon receipt of the investigation report, found the findings not to his liking. He returned the report to the JAGO panel. What else could the panel do but prepare a new report incorporating the wishes of the AFP chief?
And that’s where the deceit lies. Esperon could have simply trashed the first report, proclaimed he found the findings a lot of bull and formed a court martial to try the accused regardless of JAGO’s recommendation. That’s the honest way of doing it. After all, as AFP chief of staff, haling the officers before a court martial is his own call.
We recognize that the military justice system has nothing to do with the dispensation of justice. It is meant to be an instrument to maintain discipline and good order in the ranks. But deceit surely violates the code of honor in the officer corps.
Two of the accused coup plotters, Col. Ariel Querubin and Lt. Col. Custodio are the only two living Marine recipients of the Medal for Valor, the highest military award. Lim, a Gold Cross recipient, missed out on the Medal for Valor for repulsing Muslim secessionists during the Jolo siege in the early 1970s for the simple reason the latter award was instituted only in 1986.
They can take anything Esperon can throw at them. But deceit is not one of them.

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