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Defense
Secretary on the Defensive
First,
he was accused by the July 27 mutineers of being the mastermind in the series of
bombings in Davao, southern Philippines early this year. Now Defense Secretary
Angelo Reyes has been asked to be placed under investigation for the bombings
and that he should immediately resign. A signature campaign to support this call
has been launched.
By
Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com
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Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo last week added his voice to a growing clamor for
an independent inquiry into the role of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes in the
bombing of Davao City. In a statement last August 7, Ocampo expressed support
for initiatives by a number of Mindanao lawmakers to conduct a congressional
investigation of the matter.
Calls for such investigation have been building up since the July 27 mutiny in
Makati staged by 296 soldiers, including 70 officers, belonging to the Magdalo
group.
Justifying their action, the mutineers said they have had enough of the AFP.
They revealed that the bombings in Davao City last March were orchestrated by
Reyes and former AFP intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus and blamed by
the military hierarchy on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). These
bombings were carried out, the mutineers said, to cause the MILF to be tagged
“terrorist” and justify requests for additional U.S. military aid. |
Embattled
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes raises a point in a recent House probe into
the July 27 mutiny.
Photo
by Aubrey SC Makilan |
Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the leaders of the Magdalo
group and apparently its spokesperson, told the media last July 27 that one of
the men who were with them was ordered by Reyes and Corpus to bomb Davao City
but refused to carry out the order.
At the time the Davao bombings took place, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
was locked in combat with the MILF, simultaneous with the U.S. attacks on Iraq.
The defense secretary has however brushed aside allegations that he had a hand
in the Davao bombings. He has branded such allegations as “silly.”
Davao explosions
Last March 4, a bomb exploded at the Davao International Airport. The explosion
killed 19 people and wounded 100 others. Among those killed were an American
missionary, a one-year-old girl, a college student, and a Muslim family.
On April 2, another bomb blast occurred in Davao City- this time at the Sasa
Wharf. The Sasa Wharf blast killed 19 people. Six days later, two suspects were
arrested for both bombings: Ismael Acmad and Juvy Bagundang.
In both cases the government pointed to the MILF as the mastermind. The MILF
leadership has been vehement in its denial of any part in the incidents, even as
it would, months later, admit to having committed “tactical blunders” in an
operation in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, which left several innocent civilians
dead.
Not the first
The Magdalo group was not the first to allege that the AFP leadership
masterminded the Davao bombings.
As early as last April 3, Bayan Muna Rep. Crispin Beltran said that Malacañang
and the military could have had something to do with the Davao blasts. “The
bomb attacks in Davao City could be test cases for militarists in the Macapagal-Arroyo
and their accomplices in the U.S. armed forces in the country to justify the
quick passage and immediate implementation of the anti-terrorism bill and other
measures that will put civilian authority under military control,” Beltran
said.
Before the bombing of the Davao International Airport, explosions had rocked
other parts of Mindanao. B. Raman, a former official of the Indian government,
commented in an article published in the Asia Times last March on the timing of
the Mindanao blasts. He wrote: “The explosions have taken place at a time when
an intense debate is on in the Philippines over the wisdom of accepting a U.S.
offer of what has been described as purely training assistance in dealing with
terrorism, largely inspired by the Abu Sayyaf, on Jolo island of the Sulu
archipelago.”
Speculations that the AFP had something to do with the Davao bombings seem to be
corroborated by the fact that Abu Sayyaf leader Hamsiraji Sali had claimed
responsibility for the blast at the Davao airport. The AFP top brass has
frequently been accused of collusion with the Abu Sayyaf.
“Reyes, resign!”
In her State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered a day after the Magdalo
mutiny, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo announced the creation of an independent body that would
investigate the Davao bombings.
But Mindanao leaders, as well as cause-oriented groups, have expressed
misgivings about this, especially since according to the president herself, the
creation of the independent body was an idea of the defense secretary.
Party-list group Bayan Muna has suggested the formation of an investigating body
to be headed by Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., and that he be given a
free hand in choosing the other members of the group.
Meanwhile, calls for the defense secretary’s resignation have been
snowballing.
“Unless Reyes resigns or is suspended, no credible and independent
investigation can go on,” said Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)
secretary-general Teddy Casiño. “As long as Arroyo appears to be coddling
Reyes by retaining him in his position as is, it is unlikely that people will
come out to reveal what they know about the Davao bombings and Reyes' other acts
of treason as alleged by the AFP junior officers.”
The Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao and the Promotion of Church People’s
Response have made
similar calls.
Bayan
has plans of staging actions to demand Reyes’s resignation.
Three AFP generals, speaking on condition of anonymity, have also called for
Reyes’s resignation. According to them, most of the men and women in the
Department of National Defense want Reyes out of his post.
A signature campaign for the resignation of the defense secretary has been
initiated on the Internet by Bayan. Bulatlat.com
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