This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 3, February 22, 2006
Court Releases Alleged Coddlers of Recaptured
Magdalo BY BULATLAT After 17 hours of detention, the two accused
of coddling Army 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan were released from detention at around
3:30 p.m. Atty. Ruel Pulido, counsel for the two, said
in a telephone interview with Bulatlat that Jose Christopher Belmonte and
Albert Guyal were released on a P12,000 bail each from the Batangas Police
Provincial Office. They were earlier charged for violating RA 1829 (harboring a
criminal). The two were arrested together with San Juan
around 5:30 a.m. Feb. 21 at a police checkpoint in Barangay (village) San
Felipe, Lipa City, Batangas (84 km. south of Manila). San Juan is one of the
Magdalo 4 who escaped from detention Feb. 17. Magdalo was the group that staged the
Oakwood mutiny. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been conducting
manhunt operations to recapture the Magdalo 4 ever since their escape. Earlier reports quoted Southern Luzon
Command (Solcom) chief Maj. Gen. Pedro Cabuay Jr. as saying the two arrested
with San Juan are members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Pulido denied this however and said
Belmonte is counsel for San Juan who was on his way to meet his client while
Guyal drove Belmonte to the site. The third person arrested, Jose Cruz Guerra,
who was also tagged by Cabuay as an NPA guerilla, was also released. However,
his lawyer Conrado Manicad said in a separate interview with Bulatlat
that Guerra is an ordinary driver who took his employers from Malabon to Tiaong,
Quezon (100 km south of Manila). On his way home, Manicad said his client got
lost in Padre Garcia town in Batangas and just happened to pass by the
checkpoint in the said area when he was arrested. Guerra’s arrest came five hours after that
of San Juan, Belmonte and Guyal. He was detained for 17 hours without charges.
He was released after his lawyer threatened to file charges against the
military. Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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Posted 6:16 p.m. Feb. 22, 2006