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Coup case vs Honasan spokesman dropped

THE Makati regional trial court has dismissed the coup d’etat charge against an aide of Sen. Gregorio Honasan in connection with the July 27, 2003 takeover by mutinous soldiers calling themselves the Magdalo Group of the Oakwood Hotel in Makati City.

Judge Oscar Pimentel ordered the junking of the case against Ernesto Macahiya, spokesperson and vice president of the military-based fraternity Philippines Guardians Brotherhood Inc. (PGBI) whose chairman was Honasan, saying the Department of Justice failed to substantiate its case.

Authorities erroneously identified Macahiya as a retired Army colonel which he denied, saying he was a former executive of the Development Bank of the Philippines.

The DOJ based its case on the testimony of two witnesses who claimed to have seen Macahiya leading a rally and holding a streamer pushing for Honasan’s National Recovery Program on the day the Magdalos seized Oakwood. Authorities said the protest action was part of the overall plan to overthrow the government and that Macahiya belonged to the civilian component of the Magdalo group which he denied.

Macahiya earlier argued that his case should have been dismissed when a similar case filed against Honasan as instigator and mastermind of the mutiny was dropped by the DOJ in June 2007 for lack of evidence.– Ashzel Hachero

THE Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday the reported rape last Feb. 18 of a Filipina by a United States soldier in a hotel in Okinawa, the Japanese city hosting the largest US military base in the region.

DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal said consul-general Sulpicio Confiado reported to the DFA that "the embassy has dispatched an official to Okinawa today to assist the Philippine honorary consulate in Naha in extending full consular assistance and other needed support to the Filipina."

The office of Gabriela party list Rep. Liza Maza said the rape happened Tuesday. Agence France Presse said the suspect is in US military custody.

Tokyo-based Migrante-Japan demanded "a thorough investigation" and the turnover of the suspect for an impartial investigation. The group appealed to Okinawa residents "to rally behind our compatriot and other victims of crimes committed by US military service personnel in Japan."

A 14-year-old Japanese girl was also raped by another US serviceman in Okinawa earlier, sparking calls for the removal of the US base there. – Anthony Ian Cruz

The annual alumni homecoming on Sunday, Feb. 24, spearheaded by the St. James Academy Alumni Association, will put special focus on "One Class, One Family, One Scholar," the flagship project of the 2007-2008 SJAAA Board of Trustees.

Last year, SJAAA sent 48 poor and disadvantaged scholars to both Evening Class and Day Class at St. James Academy in Malabon through the generosity of alumni classes, individual alumni, and alumni families and friends.

The scholarship program matches alumni sponsors with qualified and deserving but financially disadvantaged out-of-school youths. Alumni sponsors pledge to fund their scholars’ DepEd- and TESDA-recognized secondary five-year Evening Class or regular four-year Day Class in SJA, according to SJAAA President Nila Barican Tupaz of Class ’60.

The SJAAA annual homecoming will be held at the school’s roofdeck. Registration is at 2 p.m. For details on homecoming activities and on SJAAA’s scholarship and other programs to help the school community, please call the SJAAA office at tel. no. 282-8237, text or call cellphone no. 0916-5135004, or e-mail sjaaa_trustees@yahoo.com.

THE PNP yesterday said that 30 more closed-circuit television cameras will be set up all over Metro Manila as part of the police’s anti-criminality campaign.

PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said 26 such CCTVs have already been mounted along major thoroughfares. He said the cameras are mainly for traffic and anti-crime monitoring and not for spying on anyone.

The use of CCTVs against crime was conceptualized initially in 2007 Asean Summit and Ministerial Meeting in Cebu and Manila.

Recently, the PNP and the Metro Manila Development Authority agreed to share videos captured through these CCTV cameras especially those that involve the commission of crimes. The video images captured by these CCTV cameras are fed to the Central Command Center of the NCRPO and are remotely transmitted to the Command Center of the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame. – Raymond Africa