Marayag assumes
office as Navy No. 2
A MEMBER of the military fact-finding board
that investigated and subsequently cleared the so-called Hello
Garci generals of charges of rigging the results of the 2004
presidential elections is the new No. 2 man of the Philippine
Navy.
Rear Admiral Emilio Marayag assumed as the
new Navy vice commander in rites presided over by Navy chief
Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez yesterday. He replaced RAdm.
Geronimo Defensor who was earlier named commander of the
Philippine Fleet, a major unit of the Navy.
Marayag previously headed the Naval Force’s
Western Mindanao based in Zamboanga City that supervises all
Navy and Marines operations in the region, including those
against the members of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.
Taking over Marayag’s previous post is
Commodore Alexander Pama, the outgoing senior military assistant
to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. In turn, Pama would be
replaced by his deputy, Col. Salvador Mison Jr.
Marayag’s appointment places him as Navy’s
second-in-command but his relief from the Naval Forces Western
Mindanao (NFWM) deprives him of a command and control over a
large number of men. He headed NFWM for over a year and before
that served as the Navy’s No. 3 man as the Chief of Naval Staff,
and Armed Forces deputy chief of staff for personnel (J1).
It was during his stint as J1 that Marayag
was named member of the fact-finding board tasked to investigate
the so-called Hello Garci generals, including then Army chief
Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, for involvement in the supposed
cheating of the 2004 polls. Esperon was then deputy chief of
staff for operations and concurrent deputy commander of the
military task force assigned to safeguard the elections.
The ad hoc board, chaired by then AFP Inspector General Vice
Admiral Mateo Mayuga, cleared the Garci generals, citing lack of
evidence and witness. Mayuga was later named Navy chief but
declined a presidential appointment as defense undersecretary
after he retired. – Victor Reyes
