Magdalo escapee recaptured
By Jaime Laude And Arnell Ozaeta
The Philippine Star 02/22/2006
BATANGAS CITY — A leader of the failed Magdalo mutiny in July 2003 who escaped from his Fort Bonifacio detention cell along with three other junior Army officers last month was recaptured early yesterday at a police checkpoint in Padre Garcia, Batangas.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Generoso Senga confirmed the arrest of Army 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan, along with two suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas, after they were stopped in a Mitsubishi van with license plates XAY-269 at a roadblock set up by military and police in Barangay San Felipe in that town.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said San Juan was intercepted after attending a meeting with top NPA leaders in nearby Rosario town. "This is treason," Lomibao declared.
Lomibao added a firefight was underway in Rosario between government forces and other NPA leaders who had met with San Juan.
Although the PNP chief gave no other details of the operation, the military said San Juan had a meeting with NPA leaders identified as Tirso Alcantara and Leo Velasco.
Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Pedro Cabuay said combined police and military troops raided Barangay Bucal, a village in Rosario, at early dawn where San Juan was supposedly meeting with the NPA leaders.
Sensing the raid, San Juan and two communist guerrilla suspects identified as Albert Guyal and lawyer Jose Christopher Belmonte were able to escape in a Mitsubishi van while the rest managed to escape on foot, Cabuay said.
"There must have been something cooking there," Cabuay said, describing the meeting participants as an "unholy alliance between two groups of different ideologies."
"During the raid, the engine (of one of the vehicles left at the scene) was still running and the food was still hot, indicating that they had just left when they sensed the government agents," Lomibao added. Tactical alliance
Lomibao said San Juan was intercepted by police and military personnel who were already waiting for him at Barangay San Felipe.
He told a news conference at Camp General Malvar here that intelligence agents from the Air Force’s 740th Combat Group frustrated the rebel plans when it raided a suspected safehouse in Barangay Bucal.
"The meeting between Lt. San Juan and top members of the NPAs took place in a farmhouse in Barangay Bucal last Monday evening until they were assaulted by our troops at around 5 a.m.," Lomibao said.
Immediately after the raid, the military and the police deployed a ring of security around Bucal to prevent the rebels and the renegade Army officer from trying to escape.
San Juan and the two suspected rebel leaders were later intercepted at the road checkpoint in Barangay San Felipe, about six kilometers away from the meeting place. Police said the renegade Army officer and the two rebels were on their way to Lipa City.
San Juan did not resist arrest, nor did Belmonte or Guyal.
Before his recapture, the police and military intelligence had already been monitoring San Juan’s attempts to forge a tactical alliance with the communists.
"The meeting only showed that they were at the initial stage of alliance," Lomibao stressed.
"This (recapture of San Juan) confirms the reports that the New People’s Army and the Magdalo Group had linked up to fight against the government," he said.
PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao said the recapture of San Juan and the two rebel leaders had confirmed earlier suspicions that the renegade Army officer, representing the Magdalo group, was trying to forge an alliance with the NPA.
Pagdilao pointed out Belmonte and Guyal were known to have active links with the communist rebels.
"It is really very unfortunate that this is a sign of desperation on the part of the Magdalo to link up with an established enemy of the state, the enemy that these officers who are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy had sworn to fight because they have taken their oath to defend the Constitution," Pagdilao added.
The military said Belmonte had been wounded in 2003 while driving a car with NPA leader Nilo de la Cruz and another rebel that was ambushed by government forces.
Cabuay declared in the same news conference here that Belmonte, who had been acting as counsel for San Juan, was a member of the NPA.
On the other hand, NPA spokesman Gregorio Rosal said he was unaware of both the arrests and the ongoing firefight.
"If they had been meeting in Padre Garcia, it would not have been necessary for them (his comrades) to notify me about it," Rosal told dzRH radio.
The communists had previously issued statements praising the actions of the escaped officers and offering a tactical alliance with them. End of the line
The AFP top brass downplayed the capability of the "reformist" military faction or any other anti-Arroyo group to mount a power grab against the administration.
Senga said the military was well on top of the situation with the recapture of San Juan.
The AFP chief noted San Juan was recaptured a day after the fugitive Army officer supposedly sent taped messages to news organizations urging citizens to show defiance of President Arroyo by wearing red armbands.
San Juan claimed he had the support of 10 active generals who would join him in a planned coup against President Arroyo. The renegade Army officer even warned that Magdalo would "take action" before the end of the month.
San Juan was among the junior officers who led 300 troops during their occupation of the posh Oakwood Premier Ayala Center and a nearby shopping mall in Makati City’s central business district in July 2003.
Calling themselves the Magdalo, the group rigged the area with bombs in an attempt to highlight their accusations of high corruption involving Mrs. Arroyo and officials.
San Juan had managed to escape along with four other junior military officers earlier this year while on trial for the 2003 mutiny, and all have since called for the ousting of Mrs. Arroyo.
One officer who had escaped earlier, Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, was arrested in Malabon late January.
Yesterday’s arrest of San Juan followed a mysterious explosion in Malacañang last Monday that caused no casualties or damage. Hours later, a shadowy group of self-proclaimed military rebels claimed the explosion and issued threats against the government.
The group described itself as "reformist" military officers and claimed in a statement to news agencies that it "started today a series of explosive protest activities that will continue and even escalate until Gloria Arroyo leaves the presidency." ‘Lessened capability’
The AFP top brass declared the arrest of San Juan had lessened the capability of the Magdalo and other rebel groups to launch a coup.
Senga stressed the military remains united in support of the government as shown in coordinated efforts to recapture San Juan.
However, Senga said the military is not taking the issue lightly as it continued to look into reports of destabilization and the groups believed to be supporting such coup plots.
Senga added the military has started its probe on the existence of the Young Officers Union New Generation (YOUng), one of the groups that had claimed responsibility over last Monday’s "explosion" near Malacañang.
The AFP chief also described as "irresponsible" the statements made by anti-Arroyo groups in the wake of the tragedy that struck a farming village in Southern Leyte last Friday.
"The whole Philippines is concerned about how we can help in the tragedy in St. Bernard in Southern Leyte, and yet the preoccupation of this group is to trigger destabilization," Senga noted.
Malacañang, meanwhile, said the alliance being sought by San Juan with the communists was merely to advance his personal agenda.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said San Juan’s efforts to join with the NPA, a sworn enemy of the state, indicates a pursuit of personal ambition by abandoning his commitment to the nation and joining a group seeking to overthrow the government.
Ermita said the arrest of San Juan should serve as an eye opener for the officers and servicemen of the AFP.
Administration lawmakers added it will simply be a matter of time before the other military fugitives are recaptured.
House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin (Basilan) and Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas said the recapture of San Juan had "further exposed the weakness of the Magdalo group and the emptiness of its threat to oust President Arroyo."
"This (arrest) is a signal for the remaining fugitive mutineers to come out and surrender because they will eventually be located and captured by authorities. Theirs (Magdalo’s advocacy) is a lost cause from the very beginning," Cagas said. — With reports from Cecille Suerte Felipe, Christina Mendez, Delon Porcalla, AP, AFP
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