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DE RUEHML #0881/01 1020950
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FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0359
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANILA 000881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2018 
TAGS: CASC MARR MAS MCAP PREL RP
SUBJECT: COUP PLOTTERS' CONVICTION WARNING AGAINST 
"MILITARY ADVENTURISM" 
 
REF: A. MANILA 03800 STANDOFF WITH FORMER COUP PLOTTERS 
        ENDS PEACEFULLY 
     ¶B. MANILA 03797 SENATOR AND FORMER COUP PLOTTERS 
        WALK OUT OF COURT PROCEEDINGS IN PROTEST 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Philippine government and military officials 
are lauding the April 9 convictions of nine Philippine 
military officers for attempting to overthrow the government 
of President Arroyo in July 2003 as the first such 
convictions in Philippine history.  The officers recently 
changed their pleas to guilty, but stiff sentences were meted 
out to them for their roles in the failed coup plot: two Army 
captains received life terms, and the others were sentenced 
to 6-12 years.  Philippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff 
General Esperon told the Ambassador that the sentences were 
"good," as they sent a signal to both the Philippine military 
and society that "military adventurism was ending."  In 
response to rumors of possible presidential pardons for the 
nine officers, General Esperon confided to the Ambassador 
that it was not his decision to make, but at the proper time 
"it might be the right thing to do." General Esperon went on 
to say he hoped the soldiers could be rehabilitated and 
possibly even be brought back into the Philippine military, 
similar to other former military officers who have been 
arrested and detained for trying to topple previous 
administrations.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------ 
THE OAKWOOD MUTINY 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) On July 27, 2003, 31 junior officers from the 
Philippine military, citing pervasive corruption at the 
highest levels of the Arroyo Administration, seized the 
Oakwood Premier Apartment complex in Makati City in an 
attempt to force President Arroyo to resign.  The episode 
included then-Navy Lieutenant Antonio Trillanes, who later 
was elected to the Senate while under detention, and 
Brigadier General Danilo Lim, later arrested for his role in 
a separate coup plot in February 2006. The plotters succeeded 
in rigging the Oakwood building with explosives, but 
surrendered peacefully to authorities nineteen hours later. 
All 31 soldiers were arrested and charged with plotting to 
overthrow the government.  A commission established by the 
Arroyo Administration later that year alleged that this 
action by military officers was part of a larger conspiracy 
to topple the government. 
 
--------------- 
HARSH SENTENCES 
--------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Unlike Senator Trillanes and General Lim, who 
participated in several coup attempts (REF  B), senior 
military and political leaders widely believe that many of 
the officers involved in the Oakwood incident -- including 
those convicted April 9 -- were young officers whose idealism 
allowed them to be misled.  After spending five years in 
detention, the nine soldiers changed their pleas to guilty, 
reportedly to win leniency from the court.  The judge, 
however, gave them harsh sentences -- 6-12 years for seven of 
the officers, and life sentences (up to 40 years) for two 
captains. 
 
¶4. (C) During an April 9 ceremony commemorating the 
sacrifices of U.S. and Philippine soldiers at Bataan and 
Corregidor, Philippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff General 
Hermogenes Esperon confided to the Ambassador that the 
sentences were "good" as they sent a strong signal to both 
the Philippine military and society that "military 
adventurism was ending."  In response to rumors of possible 
presidential pardons for the convicted nine junior officers, 
General Esperon told the Ambassador that it was not his 
decision to make, but at the proper time, "it might be the 
right thing to do."  General Esperon also went on to praise 
one of the convicted plotters, Philippine Army Captain 
Gerardo Gambala, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, as 
an excellent officer who had served on his operations staff 
in Mindanao.  Noting that Gambala had distinguished himself 
at the Philippine military academy, Esperon voiced the hope 
that officers like Captain Gambala could be rehabilitated and 
perhaps even be brought back into the Philippine military. 
 
 
--------------- 
 
 
FUTURE PARDONS? 
--------------- 
 
5.(C) The potential for rehabilitation and acceptance back 
into the military is not unknown in the Philippines, as 
former military officers who have been arrested and convicted 
of trying to topple previous administrations have returned 
from jail to pursue successful careers in the military as 
well as in politics.  A good example of an officer whose 
career was not hurt by participation in an attempted coup is 
Marine Corps Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, current 
commander of the Marine Task Force in Sulu.  While a junior 
officer, he was involved in a plot to overthrow the 
government of then-President Cory Aquino.  Another Philippine 
military officer whose attempts at destabilizing various 
Philippine governments have not adversely affected his 
electability is Senator Gregorio Honasan.  Honasan, a 
Philippine Military Academy graduate, was charged and 
arrested for his alleged involvement in multiple coups 
attempts against former President Aquino in the 1990s and was 
arrested and detained for his alleged involvement in the 2003 
Oakwood mutiny.  He eventually was elected Senator. 
 
¶6. (C) Lawyers representing some of the convicted officers 
recently cited unnamed Arroyo administration official as 
being amenable to some form of presidential pardon or a 
possible reduction in their clients' sentences.  They also 
speculated that the convicted officers might serve time in 
prison until the end of President Arroyo's term in 2010, when 
she might grant them a pardon.  Chief Presidential Legal 
Council Sergio Apostol was quoted as saying the nine officers 
convicted on April 9 qualified for presidential pardons, like 
any other convict. 
KENNEY