2 ranking Marine officers sacked over Tipo-Tipo clash

Two ranking Philippine Marine officers have been relieved from their posts over the July 10 encounter in Tipo-tipo, Basilan where 14 soldiers died, 10 of them beheaded and mutilated, a military spokesman said Thursday. Relieved were Lt. Col. Felix Almadrones, former commander of the Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 8, and his operations officer, Maj. Nestor Marcelino, said Navy spokesman Commander Giovanni Carlo Bacordo. The Philippine Marine Corps is under the Philippine Navy. "They have been relieved because of command responsibility and in order for them to shed light in the ongoing investigation," Bacordo said. "But they are not being punished. They were relieved so as not to exert influence over the investigation," he added. Replacing Almadrones is Lt. Col. Elmer Estilles while Maj. Adolfo Avarate will be taking over Marcelino's post. But Bacordo was quick to stress that the relief of the two officers was a clear indication of grave lapses on their part. "Not necessarily but the outcome was that we lost 14 Marines." "There has been no scheduled turnover yet as this would be determined by Col. (Ramiro) Alivio," Bacordo said. Alivio is commander of the 1st Marine Brigade which exercises supervision over the MBLT 8. At the time of the encounter, Marcelino acted as the ground commander of the beleaguered troops, who fought against a combined force of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf rebels. The troops had just finished verifying information on the presence of seized Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when attacked by the rebels. The MILF has admitted participation in the fighting but has denied beheading the 10 Marine soldiers. Marine reinforcements have arrived in Basilan in anticipation of a counter-attack by government troops should the MILF refuse to surrender those responsible for the death of the soldiers. - GMANews.TV