Lim accuses military of leaking probe report

Detained Brigadier Gen. Danilo Lim on Tuesday accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) of leaking to the media the findings of a military panel which investigated his supposed participation in the February 24 coup attempt against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Because of this, Lim said he would like the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate how the 33-page report by the Ad Hoc investigating panel led by Armed Forces Inspector General Rear Admiral Rufino Lopez found its way to the offices of print and broadcast news organizations. The Lopez report had supposedly recommended the filing of sedition charges against Lim, former Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, and 36 other officers and 27 foot soldiers who supposedly planned the coup. In a statement, Lim's counsel Vicente Verdadero said that his client "wanted the DOJ to conduct the probe ... because Gen. Lim had some information on the source of the leak" which pointed to the military. Lim expressed shock over how "sources in the intelligence community" made the report available to the media. He asked Verdadero to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which is under the DOJ. "General Lim was alarmed by this news report because later in the day Rear Admiral Lopez appeared on TV denying the existence of such report, unsigned copy of which was flashed on TV screens. [AFP Chief of Staff] Gen. Generoso Senga himself was also shown on TV denying the authenticity of the report," Verdadero said. "General Senga ordered an investigation into this unauthorized leakage but General Lim believed that the source of the Ad Hoc Report (was) the military itself... (and the military) was not the proper agency to investigate," Verdadero said, reading a statement. The military had alleged that Lim, former commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), failed to lead other government troops in unseating President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on February 24. Video footage of his purported call to other soldiers to withdraw their support from the administration recently surfaced, which turned up the heat on the belaguered general. This time, Lim insisted that the video footage of his withdrawal of support was "illegally obtained." "I did not deny its existence. I told [Military Chief of Staff] Gen. Generoso Senga and the service commanders about the video. They knew about the video," he said. Instead of spurring discontent among the uniformed services, however, Lim said that "the video helped to halt plans of revolt. It helped convince the junior officers not to continue their plans. It convinced that there are other ways in which to air their grievances that are guaranteed by our Consitution." Verdadero said that his client "has no intention of turning a state witness because only a person who has committed an offense, and been charged with it, could be a state witness. General Lim has not committed any crime, and is not charged of any, so he can't be."

In a related development, Col. Januario Caringal, reportedly one of the uniformed military men standing behind Lim on the video tape, also visited the NBI on Tuesday afternoon. He submitted a two-page affidavit to the NBI, which he refused to show to news reporters. Caringal is the younger brother of Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal who is currently assigned in Mindanao. The elder Caringal is the son-in-law of former Defense Secretary Fortunato Abat, who was earlier arrested for declaring a revolutionary transition government in place of the Arroyo government.-GMANews.TV