AFP chides Villar, partymates for unity walk inside camp

What was supposed to be a simple visit by the Manny Villar-led Nacionalista Party bets to their fellow senatorial candidate detained inside the country’s main military headquarters turned into a campaign sortie – a stark violation of camp regulations. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public information office chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said NP candidates violated a military regulation against campaigning inside camps when they held a unity walk and raised each other’s hands inside Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday. “Senator Villar and members of his party made a unity walk and raised the hands of their candidates. [AFP chief General Victor Ibrado] instructed that the group of Senator Villar be warned against repeating such actions when they visit Colonel [Ariel] Querubin in the future," Brawner said in a press statement released shortly after the visit.

Querubin, detained for his alleged involvement in the February 2006 attempt to overthrow the Arroyo administration, is running for senator under the NP banner. Among those who visited Querubin in his detention cell inside the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) compound were NP vice presidential bet Loren Legarda and some of the party’s senatorial candidates. Ibrado said the unity walk and the subsequent raising of hands by Villar’s group “violated an agreement that no campaigning will be done when they were allowed to visit Colonel Querubin inside Camp Aguinaldo." Querubin, wearing an orange polo shirt and black maong pants, was not allowed to talk to members of the media and was immediately escorted back to the detention cell after having his picture taken with the NP ticket. Querubin, a decorated Marine officer, is facing mutiny charges in connection with a standoff at Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio on February 26, 2006, two days after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared Proclamation No. 1017 putting the country under a state of emergency. Interviewed by reporters, Villar said they would “do everything" in order for Querubin to be allowed to campaign. “Gagawin naming ang lahat para mabigyan siya ng pagkakataon na makapangampanya at masabi yung kanyang plataporma at adhikain sa bayan (We’ll do everything so that Querubin would be allowed to campaign and present to the people his platforms and advocacies)," he said. NP senatorial candidate Adel Tamano said the party could go as far as filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with a civilian court. Querubin’s camp earlier asked permission from the General Court Martial to attend the Philippine Military Academy's annual alumni homecoming last February 20–21, but his request was turned down. He was only allowed to go out of his detention cell on November 30, 2009, when he filed his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections. Querubin is represented by his eldest son, Martin, in NP sorties. Besides Tamano, other NP senatorial candidates who visited Querubin were Pilar Juliana Cayetano, Rep. Liza Maza, Rep. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., lawyer Gwen Pimentel, and Susan Ople. They brought with them buckets of fried and baked chicken, pancit, and native Filipino food. Querubin’s wife, Maria Flor, welcomed the NP team. –KBK/JV, GMANews.TV