Bishop admits having coddled rebel soldiers

A Catholic bishop critical of the Arroyo administration admitted on Tuesday he coddled Army Lt. Lawrence San Juan and other rebel Magdalo soldiers shortly after they bolted detention in January. Interviewed over radio station DZBB, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias said he moved the then fugitive soldiers in different safehouses in Quezon City’s Fairview district for three days and three nights. “I was forced to take custody of them lest they fall into the hands of leftists or politicians who want to use them for their vested interests," Tobias was quoted as saying. “I think the government should really be grateful that we did that because better than they fall into the prey of the well funded politicians or of the NPA and the leftists there would have been more violence," Tobias said in a television interview. “Different groups wanted to get them, the politicians, the leftists and the NPA are making contacts to them but the soldiers decided that they wanted the bishops to help them to guide them," Tobias asserted. The bishop said he kept San Juan and his colleagues at a house in Fairview, Quezon City. CBCP respects decision Tobias' act was described by CBCP President Angel Lagdameo, who is also Archbishop of Jaro, Iloilo, as a "personal" decision which the CBCP respects. "Since what he did is a personal decision on his part, we respect that. Should he need a lawyer we will send him one," Lagdameo said through Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, the CBCP spokesman. Tobias said he took custody of the officer as a member of the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME), whose other members include Bishops Julio Labayen and Deogracias Iñiguez. Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, another Arroyo critic and a co-founder of KME, said that he and Tobias discussed who will provide “sanctuary" for the Magdalo members. “That was a form of help. They needed a place to stay in. Bishop Tobias just helped them," Iniguez told reporters. Iniguez said Tobias’ action did not mean concurrence with the Magdalo soldiers' objectives. “Helping does not necessarily mean agreeing. Even if they were fugitives, they deserve help," Iniguez said. Lieutenant San Juan, along with Capt. Nathaniel Rabonza and Lieutenants Patricio Bumidang and Sonny Sarmiento, escaped detention in Fort Bonifacio on January 17. San Juan was recaptured February 21 in Padre Garcia town in Batangas province, while Bumidang, Sarmiento and Rabonza were arrested along with two other junior officers on July 7. In both incidents, lawyer Jose Christopher Belmonte was with the group of renegade soldiers. San Juan has recently broke ties with the Magdalo group and has renewed his allegiance to the Constitution. Envoy speaks up In Camp Crame, former ambassador to Iraq Reynaldo Parungao also admitted his house in the exclusive Merville Park Subdivision in Parañaque City was once used by rebel soldiers in January but quickly stressed he was not involved in any uprising against the Arroyo administration. Parungao also denied the taping of Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim’s withdrawal of support from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was done in his house. "I deny any direct or indirect participation in any plot to topple the government," Parungao told reporters after meeting with Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief, Director Jesus Versoza. But while he was abroad in January, Parungao admitted that a friend, Bettina Valderama, asked for his permission to have a group of soldiers meet in his house. Valderama is one of the civilians arrested in Quezon City on July 7 with six junior officers linked to a 2003 mutiny. Parungao said he later discovered that the soldiers who met at his house were from the mutinous Magdalo group and when Valderama asked if he could host another meeting of soldiers in his house, he declined. Parungao said his mistake was that he was too "accommodating to friends." Businessman Manuel "Beaver" Lopez also denied on Tuesday allegations he financed the botched February 24 coup. Lopez is a son-in-law of former President Joseph Estrada. "All I could think of is that we were helping… needy soldiers. And I guess I was also linked because of my name and my association with my in-laws," Lopez said in Filipino over DZBB. - GMANews.TV