TOP defense and military officials who are recommending presidential pardon for nine junior officers who have been convicted of coup d’état and meted prison terms for the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 are opposing the officers’ return to active duty.

The bar from rejoining the service is the price the mutineers have to pay for going against the chain of command, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said yesterday.

The condition is included in the recommendation for pardon, he said, together with another condition that the pardon would be revoked if the officers commit a crime involving "moral turpitude while the pardon is in effect."

"The pardon will be effective so long as they do not violate any law... We set a condition that the President may consider revoking the pardon and they will serve the unexpired portion of the term of their sentence," said Teodoro in a joint press conference with AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

Two of the officers, Captains Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo, were sentenced by the Makati court to life imprisonment. The seven others were meted six to 12 years in jail.

The nine changed their plea to guilty to the charge of coup d’état before Makati Judge Oscar Pimentel sentenced them Tuesday last week. The following day, the nine said they are not appealing Pimentel’s decision, begged for forgiveness, and appealed for "mercy" from President Arroyo by way of pardon.

Teodoro said while the nine are not considered security threats, the conditions set in their recommendation for pardon are "part of the punishment or penalty that they must suffer for breaking away from the military traditions and military procedures."

Asked if their apology was enough, Teodoro said: "The apology merely equates to not serving time anymore but other things, they are part of what they should accept should they decide to accept a conditional pardon."

The nine are part of a group that was sentenced by a military court to dishonorable discharge from the service after pleading guilty to a charge of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. Their discharge has yet to be approved by the President.

Teodoro said the "key factor" in his decision to endorse Esperon’s recommendation for pardon was the officers’ show of remorse.

Esperon said the nine could be considered for other jobs in government. He noted that some of the 53 officers discharged by the military court last year are already in government agencies, specifically with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group.

Esperon also said his recommendation had nothing to do with his scheduled retirement on May 9.

"We are not taking here about legacies. I am simply acting on a petition or a letter from Captain Gambala, Captain Maestrecampo et al," he said.

Gambala served Esperon while the former was brigade commander in Basilan.

Twenty-two other officers, including former Navy lieutenant and now opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, are still undergoing trial at the Makati court.

‘NO SCRIPT’

Esperon dismissed talks that his recommendation for pardon was part of a "script" that the nine would plead guilty in exchange for the grant of pardon.

"I’m not playing any script. I’m not playing by the deadlines. I’m not playing by my retirement date. I have no script. First of all, being an actor is difficult and I am not into acting here. This is real," he said.

The Church-based group Solidarity Philippines refuted Esperon’s statements.

"The pardon is nothing but a political script of the Arroyo administration… The condition set by the government is that they will testify against Senator Trillanes and others later on," said Fr. Joe Dizon, convener of the group.

He said by pardoning the nine officers, the administration would gain backers and reduce the number of dissenters in the "divided" military.

Dizon said he is in favor of freeing the Magdalo soldiers, including the Trillanes faction, but only if the release is unconditional.

He said the Oakwood mutiny "was a legitimate protest against the administration."

The mutineers denounced corruption in government and called for Arroyo’s resignation when they took over the Oakwood apartments in Makati City on July 27, 2003.

POLITICAL MOVE

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said the move for pardon was meant to deodorize the administration’s image.

"When pardon is granted, the authorities that would grant the pardon would be coming out of the situation smelling like a rose. Yun ang ibig sabihin niyan at yun ang interpretation diyan," he said.

Biazon, a former AFP chief and Marines commandant, said the convicts should have been meted a lighter sentence because of their change of plea.

He noted even the prosecutors in the case were surprised over the life imprisonment sentence on Gambala and Maestrecampo.

"The layman’s understanding of the situation is that, when you enter the plea of guilty… you would expect a lighter punishment," he said.

"But the imposition of capital punishment of reclusion perpetua took everybody by surprise including no less than the prosecutor themselves. So what is the meaning of this? The meaning is, as people would want to say, is that this is a political move," he said.

Biazon said he would ask for Pimentel’s inhibition from the hearing of the remaining mutineers.

"There is a non-mandatory basis for inhibition, and this is when any of the parties involved in the litigation has lost faith in the impartiality of the hearing judge and I think such a loss of faith had already been exhibited by the defense counsel for Senator Trillanes et. al when they filed a motion for inhibition in November 2007," he said. – Victor Reyes, Gerard Naval and JP Lopez