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FORMER Marines Col. Ariel Querubin yesterday said he is willing to testify before the Truth Commission on how the military was used in alleged cheating operations of the Arroyo camp in the 2004 presidential elections.

Querubin said he has no direct knowledge about the cheating but said a number of Marines, including a US serviceman, reported to him incidents of cheating. Querubin was then the superintendent of the Marine Training Center based in Fort Bonifacio.

"I am the repository of all the information from the people in connection with the cheating…In my own little way, if called by the Truth Commission, I can probably share with them the names or even convince these people to appear before the commission," he said.

Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, Marines commandant, said his men are ready to reveal what they know about the rigging of the elections.

Sabban said his men are "obliged" to appear and tell the truth before the panel to be headed by retired Supreme Court chief justice Hilario Davide.

"Basically it’s almost an order (for us to appear) because the commission was created by our commander in chief…if it’s the President who is calling them (to testify), why would I not let them?" he said.

Asked if he has met with the officers who are ready to testify, Sabban just said, "We always talk about that during gatherings."

Asked to describe in general what the revelations will be, Sabban said, "We are letting the Truth Commission find them out so that the investigation will not be preempted."

The still-to-be-formed Truth Commission is expected to handle excesses and abuses supposedly committed by the previous administration. A government team is polishing a draft of the order creating the commission.

The Marines played a part in the attempt to overthrow the Arroyo government on Feb. 24, 2006, which culminated in a standoff two days later at the Marines headquarters in Fort Bonifacio where hundreds of offices and men massed up to protest, among others, the cheating in the elections.

Dozens of Marines officers, led by then commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, Querubin, and Querubin’s fellow Medal of Valor awardee Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon, were incarcerated and subsequently tried by court martial. Also detained were a number of Army officers, including then Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim who was given provisional liberty in late May.

Querubin, who was granted provisional liberty Wednesday, and Lim are still undergoing court martial even if they were deemed separated from the service last year after they filed certificates of candidacy for senator.

Querubin visited Sabban yesterday.

With Sabban was Col. Alexander Balutan, the Marines chief of staff who, along with now retired Marine Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, testified before the Senate in 2005 on how the elections in Lanao del Sur were rigged.

A fact-finding committee looked into the alleged in involvement of the so-called Garci generals in the electoral fraud. The board, chaired by now retired Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga, cleared the officers for lack of evidence and witnesses.

It was implied in the controversial "Hello Garci" recordings that three of the generals, now retired Hermogenes Esperon, Roy Kyamco and Gabriel Habacon, helped in the cheating to ensure then President Arroyo’s victory in the election. Gudani was mentioned in the tapes as having supported Fernando Poe Jr.

Querubin said he did not appear before the investigation conducted by the Mayuga board, because he has no first-hand information but said he sent to the board at least eight names of officers and men who could be interviewed regarding the cheating.

Querubin did not name the officers he recommended but said some of them have already retired.

On whether the eight were called by the Mayuga board, Querubin said, "Some of them were called but what they told me before did not come out in the investigation. It’s either I was lying or they were the ones lying," he said.

Quoting from his conversation with Mayuga on the evening of Feb. 23, 2006, Querubin said: "When I asked him about the Mayuga report, his response was, `That’s where he had problem because those we invited (to testify) were not sworn,’ meaning they did not take their oath."

"The atmosphere when that (investigation) took place was on the survival mode, meaning those who appeared before the committee were trying to save their necks," said Querubin.

Querubin confirmed that then Capt. Feliciano Angue, commander of the Navy’s task force in Tawi-tawi, also reported to him how the cheating was planned in the province. Angue is now a rear admiral, commanding the AFP’s National Capital Region Command.

A website of rightist groups indicated that Angue was asked by Esperon, then AFP deputy chief of staff for operations and deputy commander of the AFP Task Force Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections, to allow "special operations" involving cheating in Tawi-tawi. Angue reportedly declined.

Angue was summoned to testify before the Mayuga board but he appeared to have retracted the story.

When asked if Angue should also tell the Truth Commission what he knows, Querubin said, "Let us not single out the person because he is just one." Nevertheless, Querubin said Angue, if he wants to, can come out and tell what he knows and also relate the involvement of the others.

Querubin also related how an American officer reported to him days after the May 2004 elections, how Marines took part in ballot snatching at the pier of Bonggao town in Tawi-tawi. Querubin said the US officer, then a lieutenant, told him he was sent by Angue.

He said the American was then assigned in Tawi-tawi and was escorted by a Marines officer, one Lt. Val Abayog. A number of US forces are deployed in various parts in Mindanao to train Filipino forces fight the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

"The American said, ‘Sir, I’m here to inform you about what happened in Tawi-tawi. There was ballot snatching.’ Then I asked him who were the perpetrators and he replied that they were in Marine uniforms."

"So I told (him) you know our uniform they are available commercially, anywhere, even in Zamboanga (you can buy one) and he said, `Sir, we know them because we are working with them.’ So they are sure that these are Marines (involved in the ballot snatching)," he said.

Querubin said he then reported the case to Rear Adm. Alex Pama, then head of the Naval Intelligence Security Force and now head of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao and concurrent Task Force Trillium chief.

"What they did was summon him (American) and they sent away the officer immediately because the officer said, ‘Sir, we really don’t support a corrupt military,’" said Querubin.

Pressed if Marine units took part in the cheating, Querubin said, "Yes, because they snatched ballots at the pier in Bonggao."

He said he reported the matter to higher authorities. "I informed my senior officers about this and they told me, `Who else did not cheat?" He declined to name his superior officers. The Marines commandant then was Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, who is now retired.

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