RAM leader distances group from Honasan

The Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM), a military-based group that former Senator and Army colonel Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan co-founded, has distanced itself from the cases he is facing over alleged attempts to overthrow the government. "We have nothing to do with whatever he is accused of. We just wish him well. He has been a senator, he knows the law so he has to face the charges," said retired Navy Captain Proceso Maligalig, interim chairman and spokesman of RAM. Maligalig now heads the Bataan Shipyard Engineering Corp., a company sequestered by the government. The retired Navy officer also noted that there was "a little animosity" between present RAM leaders and Honasan, who went into hiding in February shortly after a Makati court issued an arrest warrant against him and a number of co-accused. "There is a little animosity because he is distancing himself from us, he is like a prodigal son," said Maligalig, who did admit that RAM tried to get in touch with Honasan while in hiding but that they could not get his mobile phone number. Honasan was arrested by police and military operatives on Wednesday at the posh Green Meadows subdivision in Quezon City by virtue of a warrant issued by a Makati court in connection with the short-lived 2003 Oakwood mutiny. He is also facing investigation by the Department of Justice for his alleged role in the failed plan to overthrow the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last February 24. Maligalig said that Honasan has long been "inactive" with RAM, and that the last time Honasan met with the group's leadership was before the 2001 "Edsa 2" uprising when the former senator defended the position of then President Joseph Estrada. "He has been long inactive with RAM, even before Edsa 2, so what do we care about him. This (coup d etat case before the Makati court) is a criminal case, let him move from there. That is a personal liability. He is more of a ‘Guardian’," said Maligalig. Honasan is also chairman of the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc (PGBI), a military-based group that claims 750,000 members. PGBI vice chairman Ernesto Macahiya, also a co-accused of Honasan in the botched February coup, has asked the group's members to remain calm following Honasan’s arrest. Honasan was one of the founding leaders of RAM, which formerly stood for Reform the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Movement, that was instrumental in bringing President Corazon Aquino to power in the 1986 EDSA "people power" uprising. In the late 1980s, the RAM renamed itself as the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (Revolutionary Nationalist Alliance), and figured in a number of bloody coup attempts against the Aquino government. RAM forged a peace agreement in 1995 with the government then under President Fidel Ramos, who succeeded Aquino. Military forces involved in the botched February coup were supposedly led by Brigadier General Danilo Lim, erstwhile commander of the elite First Scout Ranger Regiment, and who was also RAM chairman at the time. Lim was also a co-founder the Young Officers Union (YOU) that had taken part in coup attempts in the 1980s that Honasan led. On reports that Honasan was negotiating with government for his surrender when arrested by the police and the military, Maligalig said he may have been in talks because he wants to run for senator in next year’s elections. -GMANews.TV