Querubin, 11 Marine officers detained at Fort Bonifacio

Twelve Marine officers linked to the supposed Feb. 24-Feb. 26 coup attempt were detained yesterday on orders of Navy chief Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga at a naval staff house inside Bonifacio Naval Station at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig Citgy.

Commander Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, Navy spokesman, said among the jailed officers is Col. Ariel Querubin, the relieved commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade based in Marawi City.

"Col. Querubin was transferred to the Bonifacio Naval Station yesterday (Thursday) with the 11 others," he said.

The Navy stockade at Fort San Felipe in Cavite is still being repaired, he added.

However, Bacordo said former Marine Commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, a classmate of Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon at Philippine Military Academy Class of 1974, remains under the custody of Navy chief Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga.

Miranda is the highest ranking military officer to be accused of involvement in the supposed plot to oust President Arroyo.

The Navy staff house where the Marine officers are detained is guarded by Navy shore patrol, not Marines.

Querubin and the 11 Marine officers are facing a pre-trial investigation before the Armed Forces Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAGO).

The pre-trial investigation is in line with the general court-martial proceedings against 15 Marine officers and 25 officers of the Army Scout Rangers led by their commander, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Lim and his men are also accused of involvement in the supposed attempt to oust President Arroyo last Feb. 24.

The Marine officers are also facing an investigation before the Navy’s Efficiency and Separate Board (ESB).

The ESB proceedings were ordered by Mayuga to determine if the accused Marine officers led by Miranda, are fit to remain in the service.

The Marine officers were detained following charges of double standard from lawyers of the Army Scout Ranger officers, who are also accused of taking part in the supposed coup attempt last Feb. 24.

The lawyers also questioned the manner by which their clients are being treated unfairly as they were in handcuffs with heavily armed military escorts when they presented themselves for pre-trial investigation at Camp Aguinaldo.

The accused Marine officers showed up at the JAGO for the pre-trial investigation on their own without any military guard, and they were not in handcuffs.

At least 19 out of the 25 Scout Ranger officers linked to the supposed coup plot including Lim, are detained at an Army stockade inside the headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

Lim, along with Querubin have been tagged by the AFP ad hoc investigating committee as the leaders of the supposed failed military uprising last February.

The supposed plot failed after Lim was ordered arrested on the night of Feb. 23 by then AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga.

The ad hoc investigating committee chaired by Rear Adm. Rufino Lopez said that before his arrest, Lim and Querubin reportedly tried to win over Senga to their side and offered him to provide leadership so the planned military activity would not be bloody.