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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Restricted ex-Marine commander moved to Bonifacio camp
FORMER Marine commandant Renato Miranda was confined on Monday to a facility inside the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, joining 12 other Marine officers who were also linked to the failed power grab last February.
Navy spokesman Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said Miranda was escorted by troops before noon Monday from his quarters at the Armed Forces headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo where he was previously on restriction.
Bacordo said Miranda's transfer was ordered by Navy Chief Mateo Mayuga. He said the transfer was supervised by Captain Oliver Cuevas, camp commander of the Bonifacio Naval Station (BNS).
Miranda and the 12 Marine officers are facing pretrial investigation for allegedly plotting to join anti-government rallies at the Edsa Shrine last February 24 and subsequently withdraw their support from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Twenty-five other Army officers led by erstwhile First Scout Ranger Regiment commander Danilo Lim are also implicated in the plot. They are also undergoing similar pretrial trial investigation.
Lim and 18 of his cohorts in the Army are detained in an Army detention facility in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal while the rest are incarcerated at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio or are under the custody of their superiors.
Once pre-trial investigation panel finds prima facie case against the 38 officers for violation of several provisions of the Articles of War (AW), a general court martial may be convened by the military leadership to try the accused.
Apart from the pre-trial investigation, all the officers are facing efficiency and separation boards (ESBs) of the Army, Marines and of Camp Aguinaldo. The boards will determine their fitness to remain in the military service.
Bacordo said Miranda's transfer to Fort Bonifacio was long overdue, noting that his 12 co-accused in the Marines -- including Medal of Valor awardees Colonel Ariel Querubin and Lieutenant Colonel Custodio Parcon - have been transferred weeks earlier.
Bacordo said the transfer of Miranda was delayed because the Marines still have to construct a separate room within the compound to accommodate the former Marine chief.
He said that since the construction was already finished, the Navy deemed it necessary to move him to BNS.
"Even before, this is the intention - to put all of them to the BNS to ensure that their presence during the conduct of trial whether for the PTI (pre-trial
investigation), or maybe court martial or summary dismissal board," said Bacordo.
On the possibility of the 13 being moved to a detention facility in Fort San Felipe in Cavite City, Bacordo said: "That remains to be an option if the security situation warrants."
Bacordo said there will be no preferential treatment for Miranda. Bacordo said that just like the other 12 Marines accused of involvement in the failed coup plot, Miranda cannot leave his place of confinement without any escort. (VR/Sunnex)
(September 5, 2006 issue)
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