Army Captain Danilo "Danny" Lim





Isang bagay daw lamang ang hinahanap-hanap niya ngayon sa kanyang buhay – di na siya makakapag-marathon tulad ng dati.

By Nelson Navarro
Manila Standard
July 15, 1992

Remember Danny Lim?

Chances are that you do. but if not, let us say he was the bright and articulate young captain of the elite Scout Rangers who, along with the Marines, staged the heart-thumping Siege of Makati during the failed December 1989 coup.

Tough but scholarly-looking, Lim won many brownie points as a no-nonsense commander who kept discipline in the ranks and who eventually helped defuse as escalating confrontation that many feared would have reduced the country’s financial center – and capital itself – into another smoldering Lebanon.

Some commentators and observers couldn’t help singling out the then 34-year-old West Point graduate as the eloquent rallying symbol of the aborted military rebellion, the sixth such attempt in three years, that came close to toppling the Aquino regime if not for the timely “persuasion flights” of US Air Force jets.

Like hundreds of his colleagues in uniform, Lim paid a high price for his role in the coup attempt. Since the rebels’ famous return march to Fort Bonifacio, he has been shunted from one military jail to another, awaiting trial for mutiny and some 77 counts of murder and frustrated murder that could theoretically keep him behind bars for the next 1,552 years.

Very little has been heard of Danny Lim since he abruptly disappeared from public view some two-and-a-half years ago.

But with the newly-inaugurated Ramos administration trumpeting yet another bid for “national reconciliation” with all rebels from the left, right and center, Lim appears to be slowly making his way back to public consciousness as the impassioned spokesman of his now half-forgotten generation of military rebels.

The sweet talk of amnesty has so far failed to impress the former country boy from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, now engaged in the simple joys of poultry farming inside the 808 Custodial Company Detention Center in Fort Bonifacio.

“It is not the solution or the answer to our national problem,” says Lim of the current proposal to pardon the rebels.

Amnesty, in his view, should only be “the natural consequence of a more comprehensive peace process” and not some publicity stunt or act of mercy to detained rebels who just want to get out of jail and get on with the rest of their lives.

“The government does not even need to grant amnesty,” he emphasized, “if it pursues a new governance that makes a real difference in people’s lives. For a start, it must show that it means business by putting at least one big fish in jail.”

Otherwise, he says, the people will remain cynical, and there will be no end to the threat of a future coup attempts.

“They (the military brass) can say all they like about the RAM being reduced to a splinter group or a harmless nuisance,” he says, “but they might be in for another big surprise. That’s what Biazon (former Chief of Staff, now senator) once said of the rebel movement just before the last coup proved him wrong.”

Does this attitude mean Lim and his colleagues remain hostile towards President Ramos, the former Armed Forces chief of staff and defense secretary, who in the last May 11th elections lost the military vote to Miriam Santiago and Danding Cojuangco by a humiliating margin?

For the time being, says Lim, the rebels prefer to abide by the hopeful spirit of the 100-day “honeymoon period” that the whole country accords all new Presidents.

But what he has heard of Ramos, he is far from happy about.

Lim is frankly skeptical of the President’s recent offer of “total and unconditional amnesty.” This otherwise conciliatory move means little, he says, when taken along with Ramos insistent demands calling on the rebels to “accept responsibility” for the destructive consequences of their rebellion and to offer a “biding pledge to keep the peace.”

Any presumption or admission of guilt is out of the question for rebels like himself, says Lim.

“I have personally acknowledged my participation in the coup," he says, “Whether it was right or wrong is another story. As a soldier, I believe I was defending my country from its enemies, who happened to be those serving in the government.”

However, as the defeated parties, he grants that, we are not in any position to dictate the terms” to the administration.

“What’s really more important is that they practice good government,” he says. :”If they do so, they will make us extinct and unnecessary. We will just stay in jail and fade away, but that is fine with us if it will be good for the country.”

Yet, for all his doubts, Lim admits that he is keeping his own fingers crossed that some kind of honorable settlement could somehow be brokered between the government and the rebel groups.

If and when he is set free, he vows that he will say good-bye to military life and start all over again in the private sector with his wife Aloysia, a Makati car-rental executive, and their baby girl, Aika, who was born during his detention.

Leaving the military that has been the center of his universe for all of his adult life will not be easy for the much-decorated soldier whose career once looked so promising that there was some talk he could one day become President.

The youngest of five sons of a Chinese immigrant from Amoy and a Boholana woman, Lim first entered the Philippine Military Academy and then went on to the US Military Academy. Only one Filipino a year is allowed to enroll in this prestigious of all military schools in the world. Lim was the lone Filipino of Class 1978. The select group of Filipino Westpointers includes General Rafael Ileto, Thelmo Cunanan, and of course Fidel Ramos.

All Lim had to do to rise to the top of his profession, so he was repeatedly told, was to avoid unnecessary trouble and complications. Take the safe road, he was often advised. Hitch your wagon to some rising politician. Never rock the boat.

“Do you know the Code of Honor at West Point?” he wistfully asked his visitors last week. “Never lie, cheat, steal or tolerate these evils.”

He has always abided by this code and regrets nothing, Lim proudly adds.

ON TARGET

By Ramon Tulfo
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, NEWS
8 December 1989

We hope that the latest coup that ended yesterday has jolted President Aquino into realizing that her government can stand a lot of improvements.

The young, idealistic officer who joined the coup wanted a government free from corruption and working efficiently.

Perhaps Ms. Aquino can start mending fences by firing her corrupt or inept subalterns and putting her foot down on her influence-peddling relatives.

One of the young, idealistic officers who fought on the “other side” is Capt. Danny Lim of the elite 1st Scout Ranger Regiment.

He was a scholar of the University of the Philippines when he decided to join the military. He topped the qualifying exams for the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Lim graduated from West Point in 1978.

But it was not Lim’s scholastic record which earned him the fierce trust and respect of his men.

As a second lieutenant in Jolo, Sulu, this bespectacled, quiet and unassuming officer became a terror among Muslim secessionist rebels when he led successful attacks on their turfs.

He is one of the most decorated officers in the AFP. Lim’s medals in the Sulu Campaign include the gold Cross for gallantry in action, four military merit medals and a Combat Commander’s Kagitingan Badge with one Silver Star.

In more recent times, as a member of the Scout Ranger Regiment, Lim was mentioned in a New People’s Army publication, “Vizcaya-Quirino Letters of the Revolution” along with Brig. Gen. Marcelo Blando, former Scout Rangers chief, as having wrought havoc on the NPAs in the region.

I’ve had the opportunity of getting to know Danny Lim. He was introduced to me last year by a friend, Lt. Col. Romeo Lim, also of the Scout Ranger (we wonder if he also joined the coup) but they are not related.

I found Danny Lim a very articulate and intelligent officer who is driven by a desire to rid of the countryside of the NPA guerillas.

This is not an appeal for soft treatment of Lim and his fellow conspirators. Rather, this is an attempt to show a general profile of the officers who led the latest coup.

By Col.(ret) Romeo Lim
Malaya
April 22, 2006

I want to take time out today to write about a man I greatly admire. It may be biased, but I have no apologies. In these times of endless shenanigans perpetuated by people who are supposed to serve our country and people, this man shines as a small candle in a sea of callousness and indifference.

The roots of newly promoted Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim can be traced to Xiamen, China, formerly Amoy. His father married a girl from Bohol but Danny, as he is called by both friends and detractors, was born and raised in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. He is the youngest of five brothers.

He finished elementary and high school in Solano with flying colors. He was in his first year at UP when he took the entrance exams to the Philippine Military Academy. He topped the exams.

While a plebe, he took the entrance exam to the US Military Academy at West Point, one of the world’s premier military academies. He topped the exams.

After graduation, he returned to the country, took the Scout Ranger Course where he graduated not only No. 1 but also led his team in registering the only encounter of the class during their test mission. He opted to be assigned to Jolo after that. He commanded the forward Recon Unit of the 1st Infantry (Tabak) Division in Sulu where his name became a byword due to his combat exploits. He was wounded twice in combat.

Then AFP chief Gen. Romeo Espino noticed this officer and promptly directed GHQ to transfer then Lt. Lim to his alma mater, PMA, for instructor duty. He stayed for a few years then packed his bags again for the US to take up the Advanced Infantry Course at the Infantry School in Fort Benning, Georgia. He not only topped the course but was also awarded the Distinguished Allied Student Award for that year. When he returned, he joined the First Scout Ranger Regiment as chief of operations.

In 1989, then Capt. Lim led the Makati siege that lasted seven days. The failed coup attempt resulted in his incarceration for almost three years. He was released during the Ramos administration after the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between government and the military rebels. He was a member of the RAM-SFP-YOU peace panel in the negotiations.

Moving on with his life, Lim took the Command and General Staff course which he again topped. He ran off with seven of the eight awards given by the school. Only the physical fitness award called the "Tarzan Award" slipped through his fingers and was given to a much younger officer.

He later commanded the 42nd Infantry Battalion where he again made a name for himself for the various combat accomplishments of his unit. He also endeared himself to the Bicolanos in Camarines Sur where his battalion was based.

He then became deputy commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment and later regiment commander.

BGen. Lim is married with a daughter still in high school. Despite all his achievements and accolades, this soft-spoken and modest officer does not have his own house yet – in direct contrast to his siblings who occupy senior positions in huge corporations (also in direct contrast to some AFP officers we know). He has consciously chosen to live a simple life dedicated to serving his country and people.
In six years, he will be bowing out of the military service.

I take my hat off to this officer and gentleman whose values and principles seem to be dying traits in this mess of an AFP. We need more people like him if we are to even hope to lift our country out the quagmire it is in.

So today, I greet all the other people who are not like BGen. Danilo Lim: Mabuhay ang mga kurakot sa gobyerno ni GMA!

GERERAL ORDERS
NUMBER 277







OFFICIAL:


SINFOROSO L DUQUE
Colonel, PA(GSC)
The Adjutant General

DISTRIBUTION:
“A”
“AUREMS”

EDITORIAL

DECEMBER 7, 1989



Credit must go, first, to the officials of the Department of Tourism who initiated and planned the operation and opened talks with the mutineers for a truce during which the foreigners were moved away from the battle zone. Together with the management of the affected hotels, and officials of the embassies concerned, the DOT sought a way out of a potentially bloody impasse, sparing many innocent lives.

By Glenda Gloria
Newsbreak

They are so alike in many ways. They belong to elite fighting units in the Armed Forces, their men look up to them, and they have scars to show-physical and psychological-for the cause they once fought for as leaders of the Young Officers Union. They're very good friends as well.

When Lim and Querubin led the December 1989 coup that came close to toppling the Aquino government, both were 33. Now 50 years old, they've come full circle, yet again mired in a rebellion that many thought they had shaken off from their system.

Government bullets pierced through Querubin's chest in his daring attack on Camp Aguinaldo on the first day of the failed 1989 coup. He survived, won an amnesty in 1995 under the Ramos administration, and went back to the Marines, embraced by the organization that he rebelled against. In 2000, he led his battalion in a ferocious fight against Muslim rebels in Lanao, for which he was awarded the coveted Medal of Valor.

Lim was not wounded in the 1989 coup, but had to carry the burden of leading his fellow Scout Rangers back to barracks after they gave up on their siege of Makati's financial district. His career took a backseat after, but he came back with a vengeance after the 1995 amnesty, returning to the Scout Rangers and getting his first star in 2003-the youngest general to be named and one who jumped over many heads in the hierarchy.

It was President Arroyo who gave Lim his first star-a move that critics say was the President's way of rewarding her "adopted" classmate in the Philippine Military Academy (1978). Lim belongs to Class 1978 because he spent his first year at the PMA with them before going to West Point. Querubin is likewise associated with Class 1978 because he spent years with them, too, before he was turned back and was made to graduate with Class 1979.

Ironically, Lim's career was resurrected under the Estrada administration when he was appointed to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) under then DILG Undersecretary Narciso Santiago, husband of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. After Estrada's ouster, Lim went back to the Army and shortly before the 2003 Oakwood mutiny was appointed commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment.

On the other hand, Querubin spent most of his post-1989 years fighting Muslim guerrillas in the South. He was the deputy of then Brig. Gen. Renato Miranda when the latter was brigade commander in Basilan in 2002. Miranda was commandant of the Marines until his relief last February 26.

Before his brigade assignment in Marawi, Querubin headed the training center of the Marines based in Fort Bonifacio. It was in Fort Bonifacio where Querubin got wind of the complaints of young Marine officers about the conduct of the 2004 presidential elections. One officer who complained bitterly to him was his former deputy in Lanao: Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan, who would later testify with retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani about alleged anomalies in the 2004 polls.

Lim was caught in a similar situation. His operations officer at the Rangers, Maj. Jason Aquino, was relieved last year for distributing leaflets that called for a new political system. Aquino was sacked from the Rangers amid speculations that Lim was either to be transferred to another post or sent abroad.

Asked about this, Lim told NEWSBREAK then in a text message: "If they transfer me this time, I'm going to retire."

They didn't-and he went on to lead yet another failed coup.