Ex-rebels slam new BuCor chief's appointment

MANILA, Philippines - Former rebel officers Danilo Lim and Ariel Querubin said yesterday they are not in favor of the appointment of retired general Gaudencio Pangilinan, who is facing plunder charges, as Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief.

“It sends a wrong message to our countrymen,” Lim told ABS-CBN anchor Karen Davila yesterday when asked to comment on Pangilinan’s appointment.

Lim said he does not agree with Pangilinan’s appointment, but remains “committed to supporting (President Aquino’s) leadership. This is the right time for the truth to come out especially when it comes to the electoral fraud in 2004 because this is an issue that is very close to the heart of people like me.”

In a separate interview, Lim said the Aquino administration could have waited for Pangilinan to be cleared before giving him a post.

Lim, who was tagged in an attempted power grab in 2006, said he has nothing personal against Pangilinan, who retired from the service last month.

Lim was the Army’s Scout Ranger chief when he was implicated in an attempt to overthrow the Arroyo administration in 2006. He availed of the government’s amnesty program last May.

Querubin, a retired Marine colonel, said Pangilinan should have accepted the position after he was cleared of the charges against him. He said Pangilinan could have imitated the example of retired general and defense undersecretary Ernesto Boac, who filed a leave of absence last June after he was charged with plunder.

Pangilinan and Querubin were classmates and are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy Class ’79. Querubin was tagged in the short-lived Marine standoff in Fort Bonifacio in 2006.

Pangilinan retired from military service last July 25. The government announced his appointment as Bureau of Corrections chief a few days after.

Pangilinan is one of the respondents of the plunder case filed by former military budget officer George Rabusa, who earlier exposed the alleged misuse of funds in the armed forces.

Rabusa has filed plunder raps against a total of 22 active and retired military officers and civilians before the justice department. 

Pangilinan has denied Rabusa’ allegations and dismissed them as mere fabrications.