Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:50:00 10/27/2009
Filed Under: News, Politics, Elections, rebellion
MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections has rejected the application of Magdalo Para Sa Pagbabago as a regional political party, saying it could not trust a group of soldiers that advocated the overthrow of government.In a six-page resolution sent to the commission secretariat for promulgation, the Comelec’s Second Division expressed its distrust of the organization and said its petition “must fail.”
The group, according to presiding commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, undermines the supremacy of civilian authority over the military.
He noted the lack of assurance that Magdalo leaders would not engage in another mutiny if their goals were not achieved.
“All the foregoing show that the principal founders of the Magdalo Para sa Pagbabago party remain unrepentant and that they still harbor the propensity to engage in another illegal adventure similar to the failed 2003 Oakwood mutiny, should they fail again to achieve their goal,” the resolution said.
On July 27, 2003, about 300 junior officers and enlisted personnel, waving the banner of Magdalo, took over the Oakwood Premier Hotel in Makati City to protest graft and corruption in the government.
Ferrer also said his division was concerned that the majority of the group’s members were former military officers and it feared the group could use their political party status to “recruit and indoctrinate disciplined followers who may become their blind followers.”
About half of the participants in the so-called Oakwood Mutiny have since been released, but the main leaders, including Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, are still in jail.
Trillanes, in prison since 2003, ran for senator and in 2007 elections. The Supreme Court, however, barred him from attending Senate sessions while in prison.
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091027-232566/Comelec-junks-Magdalos-bid-to-become-a-regional-political-party
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