Loren urges AFP to let Querubin campaign out of jail

NACIONALISTA PARTY VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOREN LEGARDA REITERATED HER CALL FOR THE MILITARY TOP BRASS TO TEMPORARILY FREE ARIEL QUERUBIN, A RETIRED MARINE COLONEL FACING MUTINY CHARGES – UNDER HER RECOGNIZANCE IF NECESSARY.
Querubin would not flee OR stage a coup d’etat, she told reporters shortly after visiting the bemedalled officer in his detention quarters in Camp Aguinaldo.
With Legarda were running-mate Manny Villar and senatorial bet Pia Cayetano and Querubin’s family, including 23-year-old son Martin, who has been standing in for his father in campaign sorties.
“Hindi naman delikadong mangibang-bansa sya, o magtatago, mag-kukudeta, kasi maliwanag naman na gusto nyang sumanib sa pwersang pulitikal na iboto ng tao (There’s no risk that he would go abroad or hide or stage a coup d’etat because it’s clear that he would like to become part of a political force by getting votes),” Legarda told reporters who covered the visit.
Legarda, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve Corps, has always supported Querubin, even when she was not a senator but a plain civilian.
She noted that she was at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio on the night of the standoff staged by Querubin to protest the relief of his commandant, Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda.
Martin Querubin, who has been standing in for his father during campaign sorties, told reporters of his family’s appreciation of Legarda’s presence.
“We are very happy for the support Tita Loren has bestowed upon us because we know that right from the start she has always been there,” he said. “We saw the sincerity in her for helping us out when we needed a hand. We saw her support to us and to the military even when she was a civilian, and so we believe that we can trust her, that the Filipino people can trust her, and that she will stand by what is right and for the good of all.”