Marine colonel calls for change in govt, gets thrown in the brig

A Marine colonel is now confined to quarters for rocking the boat by calling for a change in government after decrying what he claimed was the Aquino administration’s apparent inability to solve the rising costs of food and medicine. Col. Generoso Mariano, deputy commander of the Naval Reserve Command, was ordered confined to quarters by Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama, pending a formal investigation which could lead to the court martial of Mariano. Mariano was confined to his quarters at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, as of Friday. Pama assured that he will be given a fair investigation. “There are no indications of dissatisfaction," said Pama, referring to the Marines in particular and the Navy in general. The Navy chief stressed that his men are following the military chain of command. President Benigno Aquino III, as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is at the top. Mariano would be reaching the retirement age of 56 next Sunday. But the military will retain its jurisdiction over him as long as the investigation and prosecution of his case has started while he remains yet in the active service. In the video taken July 3, Mariano said soldiers were also reeling from the relentless rise in the costs of goods, medicine and food, and they can see the inability of government to put up measures to alleviate hunger. “Nararamdaman din po naming mga sundalo ang kahirapan na idinudulot ng walang humpay na pagtaas ng mga bilihin, mga gamot at pagkain. Nakikita din po namin na ang ating pamahalaan ay walang kakayanang gumawa ng mga hakbang upang i-iwas tayo sa kagutuman at kamatayan," he said. The Marine colonel said that what the soldiers feel is no different than what the common Filipino feels, but he hastened to add that soldiers will never shirk from their duties to defend the citizenry. “Wala pong pinagkaiba ang nararamdaman naming mga sundalo sa nakikita at nararamdaman ng ating mamamayan. Ngunit may katungkulan po kami na hindi namin nakakaligtaan, ang katungkulan na ipagtangol ang mamamayang Pilipino," he said. Soldiers are duty-bound But Mariano said that if the present government has no intention or was doing nothing to save lives of the people, then soldiers are duty-bound to bring about a change in government. “Kung ang kasalukuyang pamahalaan ay walang intensyon o kaya walang naisasagawa upang isalba ang buhay ng mga nakakarami, it is the duty, it is the right of every Filipino including soldiers to replace the government. I repeat: replace the government," he said. He called on the people not to be deceived with empty promises, not to be used to fight fellow Filipinos in Mindanao, and not to believe manufactured statistics that indicate economic growth despite the growing number of hungry people. “Huwag na tayong magpapaloko sa mga nangangakong sinungaling, huwag na po tayong pagamit para labanan ang kapwa natin Pilipino sa Mindanao. Huwag na po tayong maniwala sa mga statistikong gawa-gawa lamang na umuunlad ang ating bansa habang parami nang parami ang nagugutom," he said. “Let us once and for all build a nation based on truth, for without it there can be no justice and without justice we shall have no peace and without peace there will be no development," he added. “In ending, may I quote our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who said that ‘if we have had bad leaders today and in the past, it is not the fall of the many who know less but the fall of the few who know more but do nothing or who do not do enough,’" he said. — MRT/VS, GMA News