RETIRED Marine Col. Generoso Mariano hopes he would be released from detention soon after the General Court Martial that has been trying his case for the past two years had found him guilty.
“I’m just waiting for my release order, because they already issued their verdict against me on May 27,” Mariano said in a telephone interview.
He was charged of alleged violation of at least three Articles of War.
He was issued a retirement order early this year.
“I already have my retiree identification card,” Mariano said.
Mariano was the commander of Marine Battalion Landing Team 9 (MBLT9) in 2006 and 2009, when the unit bagged the “Best Marine Battalion” award.
Mariano’s lawyer, Ana Luz Cristal, said there is no longer a reason for her client to stay longer at the Navy’s holding facility in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, because a verdict has been issued.
“Colonel Mariano, a retired officer almost two years ago, had already served more than the one- year imprisonment imposed by the court martial,” Cristal said.
She hopes that Vice Adm. Jose Luis Alano, Navy flag officer in command, will fast-track the issuance of Mariano’s release order.
“We’re now drafting a formal letter to be sent to Vice Admiral Alano, requesting him to issue a release order for my client,” Cristal said.
Mariano was charged with violating AWs 96 (Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and Gentleman), 91 (Provoking Speeches) and 63 (Disrespect Towards the President).
Mariano was restricted to camp on orders by the then-Navy chief, Vice Adm. Alexander Pama, a day before his mandatory retirement age of 56 on July 17, 2011. He was then the outgoing deputy commander of the Naval Forces Reserve Command.
He was charged after a video containing his tirades against President Aquino was uploaded in YouTube on July 15, 2011, allegedly by a member of the Solidarity for Sovereignty, a group identified with Linda Montayre.
The video was dated July 3, 2011, but Mariano himself said the video was taken by a group that invited him as speaker in an “academic forum” on June 24, 2011, at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City.
“We soldiers also feel the hardships caused by the skyrocketing prices of commodities, such as medicines and food. This administration has no capability to take measures against hunger and death, and we soldiers feel the same with the people. We soldiers have a sworn duty, we’re duty-bound to defend the Filipino people,” Mariano said in the video.
“If the present administration has no intention or will do nothing to save the lives of the majority, it is the duty, it is the right of every Filipino, including soldiers, to replace the government; I repeat replace the government. We should not allow ourselves to be fooled by liars,” he added.
On August 12, 2011, Pama approved the recommendation of the pretrial investigation to charge Mariano before a General Court Martial.
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