Navy officer links Honasan to Oakwood mutiny

Prosecutors on Tuesday presented another witness who became third military officer to link former Senator Gregorio “Gringo" Honasan to the Oakwood mutiny. Navy Lieutenant (s.g.) Norlito Martinez told the court that the Magdalo group, who led the 2003 mutiny, met with Honasan twice at a San Juan house. He added they discussed Honasan’s National Recovery Program. The counsel of the mutinous soldiers tried to prevent Martinez from testifying, arguing that Honasan was not among those accused in the case. Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati regional trial court, however, struck down the defense lawyer's objection. Honasan, a former Army colonel who led a series of bloody coup attempts in the late 1980s, has been in hiding since late February after he was alleged to have been involved in a foiled plot to oust the Arroyo administration. Martinez corroborated the testimonies of Army Capt. Manuel Darius Resuelo and Marine Captain Pedrito Dulanas. Resuelo said that on June 4, 2003, he attended a meeting in San Juan presided by Honasan. The former lawmaker allegedly told those present in the meeting that there was an urgent need to use force against the government. Dulanas, in his statement, said he saw Honasan at the Magdalo meeting on June 4, 2004 in a house in San Juan. The officer claimed that Honasan told the mutinous soldiers that they should move to topple the administration because it was corrupt.-GMANews.TV