Officer-Mutineer-Senator Trillanes
Antonio Trillanes IV Led Oakwood Mutiny and Last Week’s Coup Attempt
Dec 8, 2007
The July 2003 takeover of the Oakwood building in Makati by young military officers lasted less than 24 hours, but before surrendering the dissidents decried military and government corruption and demanded reform. Four years later, court hearings are still being held to determine whether their goal was merely forcing reforms, or was much more serious… actually bringing down the government.
One of the “Oakwood Mutiny” leaders was Navy Lt. Antonio Trillanes IV. While in custody and facing charges of plotting a coup d’état, Trillanes was elected to the Senate in May 2007, garnering about 11 million votes.[1] We might wonder how an officer engaging in acts of possible sedition or treason could be elected to such a level of national authority and responsibility. Perhaps his election was a plebiscite against President Arroyo’s administration, or perhaps just providing a bold, ambitious reformer a place within the legislative system to work for needed change.
Senator Trillanes was not working within the system a week ago Thursday when he and about 20 co-defendants in the Oakwood Mutiny hearings walked out of Makati Regional Trial Court, marched to Makati’s Peninsula Hotel, and took over a luxurious suite, beginning a 6-hour standoff with military and police forces. Before surrendering during the tear gas attack and armed assault, Trillanes and his group called for overthrow of the Arroyo administration. It appears there will not be much room this time for quibbling about whether the agenda was merely reform or toppling the government.
A watching world may ponder May’s election of such a dangerous fellow to high national office, but this is not a new behavior in the Philippines. Consider the case of Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, a former Army officer who was involved in several coup attempts against President Aquino from 1986 to 1992, afterward elected to the Senate, subsequently implicated in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and February 2006 attempt to overthrow the Arroyo government, then re-elected to the Senate last May.[1,2] Thus, freshman Senator Trillanes was joining another former military officer-turned coup plotter-turned senator in the legislature.
Another example is Imelda Marcos, who plundered the country alongside President Ferdinand Marcos for two decades until they fled the 1986 “People Power” uprising. By June 2002, the government had recovered about USD2 billion of their ill-gotten wealth.[3] In the meantime, after her husband’s death in Hawaii, Imelda returned to the Philippines as something of a celebrity and, amazingly, was elected to Congress in 1995. (Daughter Imee was elected to Congress three consecutive terms, the maximum allowed by law, and son Fedinand Jr. is serving his second congressional term[4]).
So, it’s becoming a Philippine tradition to take those guilty of crimes against the state and place them in the highest offices in the land. It is difficult to comprehend how a nation struggling so hard to advance can take such a “no hard feelings” or “forgive and forget” attitude toward those infamous individuals holding it back. Whether guilty of robbing the national coffers, or political destabilization leading to further economic woes, how can the offenders be raised up again and again and be handed fresh opportunities to ruin the country? It will be interesting to see what’s next for Lieutenant-turned-Senator Trillanes.
References
1 “Amnesty for all, even Estrada in the works—Speaker,” Philippine Inquirer, Aug. 12, 2007
2 “Honasan puts military reform on the back burner,” Philippine Inquirer, June 7, 2007
3 Presidential Commission on Good Government website <www.pcgg.gov.ph>; “Mission” in About PCGG section, and “PCGG’s Total Recoveries” in Accomplishments section
4 “Ilocos Norte awaits decision of Marcoses,” Philippine Inquirer, Feb. 28, 2007
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