One of six junior officers who led a failed mutiny by Philippine troops told
an independent inquiry on Wednesday he was rebuffed by President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo when he tried to tell her about corruption in the military.
Navy Lieutenant Antonio Trillanes, one of 321 elite soldiers facing coup
charges over the July 27 siege in Manila's business district, said he met Arroyo
two weeks before the uprising but ended up being detained for five days on her
verbal order.
"Instead of opening her mind to the serious allegations, she berated me and
ordered me detained and paraded to the media," he told the panel chaired by
retired judge Florentino Feliciano.
"I think everyone has witnessed how arrogant the president is," he said. "She
just kept on yakking and yakking."
Trillianes, the most visible mutineer during the 19-hour siege, was cautioned
several times by the panel that an officer was supposed to be a gentleman and
show proper respect to the president and commander-in-chief.
Arroyo, who was criticized for jubilantly thrusting her arms in the air at a
news conference after the siege, said late last month she met Trillianes at the
presidential palace on July 13.
She said then that she had told General Narciso Abaya, the armed forces'
chief of staff, to investigate the allegations made by Trillianes during their
90-minute meeting.
"All allegations of corruption in the armed forces shall be investigated
expeditiously and thoroughly," Arroyo said on Tuesday. "I ask any junior
officers with knowledge of such activities to bring evidence before the
Department of Justice."
The renegade soldiers accused senior officials of making weapons deals with
rebels and staging bombings blamed on Muslim guerrillas to win more military aid
from the United States.
Government and military officials have said the mutiny was the sharp end of
an attempted coup to set up a 15-man ruling junta with the financial and
logistical support of some of Arroyo's political enemies.
ONE HUNDRED PUSHUPS
National Security Adviser Roilo Golez told the inquiry on Tuesday
"impressionable and exploitable" junior officers were manipulated into an
attempt to install deposed President Joseph Estrada for three days before he
would be asked to step aside.
Estrada, now on trial on economic plunder charges after he was ousted by an
army-backed popular revolt in January 2001 that elevated Arroyo from vice
president, has denied any involvement.
State prosecutors have issued subpoenas to Gregorio Honasan, an opposition
senator and former army colonel linked to coup plots in the 1980s, and six
others giving them until mid-August to contest pending coup charges.
Honasan, who has made no public appearances since the mutiny, has said the
government is fabricating a case against him.
Arroyo, who insists she will not run in elections due by next May, has vowed
that the mutineers and their backers will face the full force of the law after
the ninth army uprising in 17 years.
Leading a coup carries a jail term of up to 40 years, but participants in
previous attempts were given light sentences. In 1990, then Defense Secretary
Fidel Ramos punished mutinous troops by ordering them to do 100 pushups.
Trillianes, who said he had details of pervasive corruption in the
procurement of military equipment, was asked by members of the inquiry whether
his pledges as an officer not to lie and cheat extended to loyalty to the
country.
"We're loyal to the people," he said. "Corruption is treason."
Arroyo said on Tuesday she had created two task forces to "institute
long-needed reforms" at the Department of National Defense, particularly
equipment procurement by the armed forces.
