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By Anthony Vargas, Reporter
A MARINE officer facing
court-martial for allegedly taking part in a coup attempt that
failed last year was rushed Tuesday to a military hospital in Quezon
City after exhibiting symptoms of malaria.
Col. Ariel Querubin was
transferred from his detention cell in Fort San Felipe in Cavite
City to the AFP Medical Center and doctors there said he could be
suffering from malaria, the Armed Forces chief of staff, General
Hermogenes Esperon Jr., told a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
Esperon said the doctors would
conduct tests to determine Querubin’s illness and the result were
expected to be out by Wednesday morning.
The Navy spokesman, Cdr. Giovanni
Carlo Bacordo, said Querubin was brought to hospital by three
security escorts, a nurse and a navy corpsman.
Querubin’s wife, Flor, had
written a letter thrice to the Navy chief, Vice-Adm. Rogelio
Calungsad, asking that the Marine be detained instead at the Marine
headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Flor said her husband needed
“proper” medical attention since the malaria strain he
contracted “can attack the brain and cause cerebral stoke.”
She added that Fort Bonifacio is
an hour’s drive away from the AFP Medical Center, which is
equipped to handle cases like her husband’s.
Bacordo said the Navy could grant
the request for medical treatment at the military hospital, but not
the appeal to return Querubin to Fort Bonifacio.
“Request for treatment at the
AFP Medical Center will be granted as long as his custodians were
notified properly. There’s no need to change his detention,”
Bacordo said.
He added that Querubin’s
confinement at the AFP Medical Center would depend on his health
condition and the recommendations of his doctors.
Querubin and five other Marine
officers were transferred from Fort Bonifacio to a naval detention
center in Fort San Felipe in October to foil a reported plan to
spring them.
Querubin is among the 28 Army and
Marine officers facing court-martial for their alleged role in the
foiled coup attempt.
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