Querubin rushed to ICU of military hospital

MANILA, Philippines - A Marine officer facing court martial proceedings in connection with the alleged February 2006 coup is at the intensive care unit of the Armed Forces Medical Center in Quezon City after experiencing difficulty in breathing before dawn Tuesday. Col. Ariel Querubin was initially brought to the Camp Aguinaldo station hospital at 7 a.m. Tuesday after "having chest pains and shortness of breath about 3 a.m.," said Querubin's wife, Ma. Flor, in a text message sent Wednesday. "He had to walk out of the detention compound because no vehicle can go in the detention area," Mrs Querubin said, adding that her husband was subsequently transferred to the AFP Medical Center. Mrs Querubin said her husband is now at the hospital's ICU "with oxygen and the doctors are monitoring his heart." "Hope this will not happen to others who are also not in their best of health," she said. A Medal of Valor awardee, Querubin is among 28 officers being tried by a military court in connection with the Feb. 24, 2006 coup. The MOV is the highest combat recognition in the Philippine military. Another MOV recipient, Marine Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon, is also among Querubin's co-accused. Of the 28 accused, 24 are inside the Isafp (Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines) compound inside Camp Aguinaldo while the others are in Fort Bonifacio, at a Naval hospital in Cavite and at Camp Crame (Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim). Lim is also facing rebellion charges in connection with the Nov. 29, 2007 standoff at the Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City. Both founding members of the Young Officers Union (YOU), Lim and Querubin have been tagged by military authorities as the masterminds of the botched February 2006 coup. - GMANews.TV