Querubin gears up for senatorial bid

BAUANG, La Union, Philippines – Detained Marine Col. Ariel Querubin officially registered yesterday as a voter of Barangay Quinavite here as part of his preparations for his senatorial bid in the 2010 elections.

Querubin, 53, was listed as No. 13 among the registrants who went to the barangay hall of Acao where personnel of the municipal election registrar’s office were conducting the registration of voters.

Jose Martin Loon, Querubin’s spokesman, told The STAR that the detained military officer is determined to run for senator, but only as a member of the opposition, to fight graft and corruption and advocate good governance.

“Hopefully his case would be finished the soonest before the elections,” Loon said.

Querubin was implicated in an alleged plot to unseat President Arroyo. He figured in a standoff at the Marine headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in February 2006 in protest of the supposedly voluntary relief of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, his commandant.

After getting clearance from the military leadership, Querubin, along with his wife Maria Flor and several companions, traveled to this province from his detention cell at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) at around 4 a.m. yesterday.

Querubin’s group arrived at around 9:15 a.m. at the municipal hall here where he got a warm welcome from residents, friends and town hall employees led by Mayor Bobby de Guzman.

“We will assure him of our 101 percent support in his bid for (senator). He is our hero and we know that he is a good military officer. We are proud of him,” De Guzman said, as he accompanied Querubin to Barangay Acao for the registration.

Querubin dropped by Barangay Quinavite to visit his relatives.

Querubin was former commander of the First Marine Brigade and recipient of the military’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor, in 2002.