Rebel soldiers back ‘Chiz’ - Manila Times

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Military troops accused of plotting coups against President Gloria Arroyo endorsed the candidacy for president in the 2010 elections of opposition Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero. Escudero himself has not officially declared that he will join the race to Malacañang next year although his party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, picked him weeks ago as its standard-bearer.

“We are supporting the presidential bid of Sen. Escu-dero. The decision of the group to back the senator is a product of a thorough and comprehensive consultation among our members nationwide,” Francisco Ashley Acedillo, the Magdalo Party’s secretary general, said over the weekend.

According to Acedillo, the Magdalo Party chose to support Escudero over other presidential candidates because he possesses the character, vision and leadership ability that the group is looking for.

Reacting to the endorsement, the senator, in a statement, said, “I am honored by the overwhelming support I have received from [Magdalo], a group I consider to have consistently represented the people’s burning desire for change in our country.”

“To me, they are patriots. Their love for this country is only paralleled by their passion for fighting for genuine reforms in government,” Escudero added.

Magdalo was also the name bannered by the rebel soldiers, including officers, in at least three attempts to unseat President Arroyo since she became president in 2001.

The soldiers’ party, Acedillo said, will also back the 2010 senatorial bids of Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Marine Col. Ariel Querubin, both Magdalo members accused of plotting the coups.

Querubin was detained after figuring in a standoff at Marines headquarters in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City (Metro Manila) in February 2006.

The Magdalo Party claims to have more than 40,000 members nationwide representing 375 chapters at the provincial, city and municipal levels.

Four other members of the rebel military group would also enjoy the backing of the party in their bids for public office in next year’s balloting.

Three of them are seeking a seat at the House of Representatives and they are Air Force 1st Lt. Acedillo for the Second District of Cebu City, Navy Lt. Senior Grade James Layug for the Second District of Taguig City and Army Capt. Dante Langkit for the Lone District of Kalinga province.

Marine Capt. Gary Alejano will be running for mayor of the city of Sipalay in Negros Occidental province.

Once their party is accredited, Acedillo said, they might run under the party-list system. In which case, he added, the party members would have to run as independents, not under the Magdalo Party.

He announced that the party would hold a national convention next month to decide on the party-list option and possible nominees, and who among the members will run under the party.

Acedillo said that they are talking with the political opposition for possible alliances.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th from the Philipine Navy and a leader of the Magdalo group that took over the Oakwood Hotel in July 2003 to press their demand for reform in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was the first rebel soldier to win a slot in the Senate.

Significantly, Trillanes pulled off the feat while he was under detention, his cell serving as campaign headquarters.

Despite his victory, the senator has not been allowed to sit in the Senate because of charges he is facing in connection with the Oakwood siege and the more recent Manila Peninsula standoff in November 2007 that he and Lim led.

Lim is detained at Camp Crame, the police headquarters in Quezon City, for rebellion charges in connection with the Manila Peninsula siege.

The endorsement of Escudero was made through a resolution letter that was signed by Trillanes, also the chairman of the Magdalo Party.

“Now therefore be it resolved, that the Magdalo Party, together with its entire membership and its network of supporting individuals and organizations, hereby endorses the candidacy of Sen. Francis Escudero for President of the Republic of the Philippines in the May 2010 elections,” the resolution read.

In thanking the Magdalo group for supporting his presidential bid, Escudero reciprocated by declaring his “unqualified support for [the group], its leaders and the ideals and principles the group stands for.”

“We are no different from each other as I, too, advocate change. With our new-found unity, it is my fervent hope that we will usher in a new brand of leadership in the country. One that will be more responsive to the needs of the people. One that will put an end to a cycle of corruption and exploitation,” he said.

Jefferson Antiporda and Michael D. Tanaotanao