Ariel Querubin

Ariel Oliva Querubin is a retired Philippine Marine Corps officer and a recipient of the Philippines' highest military award for courage, the Medal of Valor. He is the most decorated soldier in the Philippines.

Col. Ariel O. Querubin

Ariel O. Querubin
Born	(1956-03-28) 28 March 1956 Dagupan, Philippines
Allegiance	Philippines
Service/branch	Philippine Marine Corps
Years of service	1979-2010
Rank	Colonel
Service number	0-7901
Unit	Philippine Marine Corps
Commands held	Marine Battalion Landing Team-1 1st Marine Brigade
Battles/wars	Communist rebellion in the Philippines Moro conflict 1989 Philippine coup attempt 2000 Philippine campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Awards	Medal of Valor Distinguished Conduct Star Distinguished Service Star (3) Gold Cross (7) Military Merit Medal (12)

Early life and education

Querubin was born in Dagupan, Pangasinan. He grew up in La Union and studied in Manila. He was a member of the leftist student group Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan ("Democratic Association of Youth") until he attended the Philippine Military Academy, graduating in 1979. He then opted to become an officer in the Philippine Marine Corps.

In 2003, Querubin obtained his Masters in Defense Studies from the University of Canberra, Australia.

Military career

Querubin is a decorated officer known for a valiant military career and legendary war exploits, having survived 67 battle and artillery scars. Querubin is celebrated as one of the most bemedalled officers in Philippine history having a total of 49 medals. In particular, he is the recipient of the Medal of Valor, the military’s highest honor for one who has displayed the most exemplary heroism and sacrifice in combat.

Querubin has been an active participant in various military operations during the ongoing Communist rebellion in the Philippines and the Moro conflict. He is credited with the neutralization of various rebel leaders of both the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army and the Moro National Liberation Front, including CPP-NPA provincial chairman Jessie Rafael in 1981, four MNLF commanders in 1983, the NPA commander known as "Ka Ninong" and MNLF commander Racquel Carreon, both in 1988. He is also said to have been involved in the rescue of Hans Kunzli, a Swiss national kidnapped by a group led by a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front.

Winning the Distinguished Conduct Star

Four years after Querubin graduated from the PMA in 1979, he and his team neutralized seven members of the MNLF, four of which were field commanders. The operation earned Querubin a promotion to Captain and the second highest combat award, the Distinguished Conduct Star.

Working around intelligence provided by their agents as well as natives inside the MNLF, Querubin and his men posed as new graduates of it training camp in Sabah, Malaysia. They were delivered to Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Company by a helicopter. They reached their target MBLF encampment a week later. Before they could position themselves for an attack, their guide suddenly broke away and jumped into a ravine. Compromised, they dispersed into high ground and seized a strategic spot. Alerted by a woman’s voice shouting “Marines! Marines!”, the rebels began leaping out of their huts, well-armed but ill-positioned.

Querubin and his men held them down with unrelenting firepower and in just an hour, seven members of the MNLF, including four commanders, lay dead on the ground below, left by their fleeing comrades.

Participation in the 1987 Military Exercise

On 28 August 1987, Reform the Armed Forces Movement rebels led by Gregorio Honasan attempted to oust President Corazon Aquino. They attacked Malacañang Palace, Camp Aguinaldo and Villamor Air Base. Querubin, along with Red Kapunan and Juancho Sabban, attempted to bring Philippine Military Academy cadets from Baguio to Manila to provide support for Honasan.

Participation in the 1989 Military Exercise

In 1989, then-Captain Querubin was a co-founder of the Young Officers' Union (YOU). The YOU, along with another group known as the "Soldiers of the Filipino People" (SFP) and the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) participated in the attempted ouster against Corazon Aquino's government. He almost died in clashes with troops loyal to the government. Some reports indicate that he suffered from a gunshot wound; Querubin himself stated that he was wounded by a rocket blast during clashes in Camp Aguinaldo. The miliitary exercise eventually failed and Querubin and his comrades were detained. They were granted amnesty during the administration of Fidel Ramos, who succeeded Corazon Aquino as president.

Re-entry into military service

Querubin re-entered military service after being granted amnesty. In 1994, he was credited with the neutralization of Barahama Sali, which led to the eventual release from captivity of Catholic priest Fr. Cirilo Nacorda who had been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan. He was also involved in the 2002 operation that killed Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Sabaya.

Operation against Abu Sayyaf Group Commander, Barahama Sali.

In June 8, 1994, 75 men, women, and children, including a parish priest, Fr. Cirilo Nacorda, were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a breakaway group from the MNLF as well as recruits from elsewhere with designs that straddled secession and banditry. Their leader, Barahama Sali, was known for his adeptness with weaponry and particular ruthlessness. They had separated its captives by sect, freeing all the Muslims and killing 16 of the Christians and taking the others, mostly teachers and the priest, hostage.

From Lantawan, where the kidnapping happened, the gang, pursued by marines from the 2^nd Battalion, escaped Sumisip. A brigade was dispatched to break up the pursuers.

On Philippine Independence Day, June 12, the remaining hostages, except Father Cirilo, were released. On the same evening, Cesar Soriano, an ABS-CBN reporter working on the side for the American Network, CNN, asked Querubin and his men if they could be taken to Zamboanga City. Querubin, certain that Soriano had vital information on Sali, threatened to throw their camera in the sea if Soriano did not divulge said information. According to Soriano, he had been led to Sali blindfolded and after witnessing the release of the captives and committing the event to film, was again escorted blindfolded back to where they had been fetched. However, Soriano peeked through his blindfold and noted landmarks proven to be useful to Querubin.

Two days later, Querubin and his men intercepted a radio call for Sali by his codename, “Sniper”, revealing that the former’s movements had been compromised, forcing them to operate outside their plan. At daybreak, a premature engagement broke out between the forward marine forces and MNLF separatists. After numerous encounters and similar engagements, the forces of Barahama Sali were neutralized and eventually led to the release of Fr. Nacorda in Basilan.

2000 Philippines-MILF War ("Battle of Kauswagan")

Main article: 2000 Philippine campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front

In 2000 Querubin, now a lieutenant colonel, was conferred the Armed Forces of the Philippines' highest honor, the Medal of Valor for leading a military operation against 300 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters in Lanao del Norte.

^{In 2001, Querubin, then a lieutenant-colonel, was awarded the Medal of Valor for acts of conspicuous courage and gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer, Marine Battalion Landing Team 1, Philippine Marine Corps, Philippine Navy during a 24-hour firefight against an estimated 800 fully armed men belonging to the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front at Barangay Inudaran, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, from  18 to 19 March 2000.}

^{Tasked to capture the formidable MILF Camp John Mack (ABDULLATEF), headquarters of the 303rd Brigade, 3rd Filed Division of the MILF, commanded by the notorious Abdul Rahman G. Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, Lieutenant Colonel Querubin spearheaded the 1st MBLT composed of 117 officers and men in this hazardous mission against the enemy, which was superior in numbers and had mastery of terrain, and believed responsible for the spate of bombings in Central Mindanao and the siege and hostage-taking at Kauswagan Lanao del Norte.}

^{On or about 1815H of 18 March 2000, while en route to their objective, Lieutenant Colonel Querubin and his men were subject to a heavy volume of fire by rebels from their well-entrenched dugouts, bunkers and trenches.}

^{Unable to maneuver due to darkness and intense fires from both heavy and light machine guns, B-40 rockets, mortar and snipers, he nevertheless ordered his men to hold the line and directed the Special Operation Squad to close in on the enemy camp and pinpoint its location to the Marine battalion’s artillery supporting fires, and the V-300 and V-150 armored vehicles to dislodge the enemy from their heavily fortified bunkers.}

^{Unmindful of his own safety, Lieutenant Colonel Querubin continuously moved from one forward position to another, thus drawing enemy fires to his own location, purposely to pinpoint enemy targets for their artillery support fires.}

^{The battle which raged continuously until the following day did not deter him from rallying his men in repulsing wave after wave of enemy reinforcements and continued assaults in their attempt to encircle his unit. Bunker to bunker, he personally led the assault until the enemy’s line of defense started to crumble. Under his inspiring leadership, the marines fought ferociously until the enemy scampered to different directions while dragging along their dead and wounded and leaving behind their vaunted rocket launchers and high-powered firearms as well as documents of high-intelligence value.}

^{The capture of Camp Mack resulted in the neutralization of the MILF’s strategic staging area for operations and, more importantly, liberated the residents along the coastal municipalities of Lanao del Norte from the oppressive MILF revolutionary tax collection estimated at P38 Million annually.}

^{By this gallant deed, Lieutenant Colonel Querubin distinguished himself in combat in the finest tradition of Filipino soldiery.}

The statement above was made by Former President Fidel V. Ramos.

^{Medal of Valor citation:}

^{LIEUTENANT COLONEL ARIEL O. QUERUBIN 0-7901 Philippine Navy (Marines)(GSC)}

^{“For acts of conspicuous courage, gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer, Marine Battalion Landing Team-1, Philippine Marine Corps., Philippine Navy during a 24-hour firefight against an estimated 300 fully armed men belonging to the separatists Moro Islamic Liberation Front at Brgy. Inudaran, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte from 18 to 19 March 2000. Tasked to capture the formidable MILF Camp John Mack (ABDULLATEF), headquarters of the 303rd Brigade, 3rd Field Division of the MILF commanded by the notorious Abdul Rahman G. Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, LIEUTENANT COLONEL QUERUBIN spearheaded the 1st MBLT composed of 117 officers and men in this hazardous mission against the enemy, superior in numbers and mastery of the terrain, and believed responsible for the spate of bombings in Central Mindanao and the siege of and hostage-taking at Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. On or about 1815H March 2000, while enroute to their objective, he and his men were subjected to heavy volume of fire by rebels from their well-entrenched dug outs, bunkers and trenches. Unable to maneuver due to darkness and intense devastating fires from both heavy and light machineguns, B-40 rockets, mortar and snipers, he nevertheless ordered his men to hold the line and directed the Special Operations Squad to close in on the enemy camp and pinpoint its location to the Marines battalion artillery supporting fires, and the V-300 and V-150 armored vehicles to dislodge the enemy from their heavily fortified bunkers. Unmindful of his own safety, LIEUTENANT COLONEL QUERUBIN continuously moved from one forward position to another, thus drawing enemy fires to his own location, purposely to pinpoint enemy targets for their artillery support fires. The battle which had raged continuously until the following day, did not deter him from rallying his men in repulsing wave after wave of enemy reinforcement and continued assaults in their attempt to encircle his unit. Despite dwindling ammunition and increasing casualties on their side, subject officer never lost his aggressive spirit as he continued to move around while urging and inspiring his men, included the wounded, to continue. Under his inspiring leadership, his men fought ferociously forcing the enemy’s last line of defense to collapse and sending them scampering to different directions along with their dead and wounded and leaving behind their vaunted rocket launchers and high-powered firearms as well as documents of high intelligence value. The capture of Camp John Mack resulted in the neutralization of the MILF’s most strategic staging area for operations and, more importantly, liberated the residents along the coastal municipalities of Lanao del Norte from the oppressive MILF revolutionary collection estimated at P38M annually. By this gallant deed, LIEUTENANT COLONOL QUERUBIN distinguished himself in combat in the finest tradition of Filipino Soldiery.”}

2002 Operation against ASG's Abu Sabaya

ASG leader Abu Sabaya held captive missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham who were kidnapped in May 2001 while vacationing for their 18^th wedding anniversary. On 21 June 2002, a team led by Querubin, aided by US forces and equipment, tracked Sabaya who was killed in a firefight at sea.

As retold by Querubin: “Six months in East Timor was all the respite I got from I got from Abu Sabaya. Once back in time for Christmas holidaymaking in my wife’s native Zamboanga City, I had him dogging my life again, reintroduced now by a friend of his who happened to be a former classmate of my wife.

Alvin Siglos came to breakfast accompanied by a cousin of my wife’s, Tonggo Climaco. He said he had come for advice and went on to apprise me of his delicate situation. He had switched sides and was now working with, as happened, an old friend of mine and comrade-in-coup, Col. Juancho Sabban, for the rescue of the Burnham couple, Martin and Gracia, and nurse Deborah Yap.

Alvin worried less about Sabaya, whom he had forsaken, than the military agents who had been after him all this time and possibly did not know or care where his loyalty now lay; that it did lie with Sabban was not, I understood, exactly comforting, for jealousy over credit, especially where the Abu Sayyaf was the adversary, ran deep in the military.

I had no idea how I could help, but, for what assurance the smallest gesture might give, Pong and I offered to take him home.

During the drive, as though to intimate that there was for me no escaping Abu Sabaya and the Burnham affair, the South Command Military Chief, Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, rang; he summoned me to the Edwin Andrews Air Base, where he was all set to fly to Basilan for the Burnham operation.

Our quick meeting took up two basic bonds. One had to do with a satellite phone that had been fitted with a tracking device and that would be smuggled into Sabaya’s possession; worried it might be used for propaganda, thus presenting more danger than opportunity, Cimatu wanted the phone returned.

The second point concerned my sudden detour, as deputy commander, from the First Marine Brigade, in Lanao del Sur, to the Second, in Basilan, the center of the operation.

I arrived in Basilan in the middle of the operation and became quickly aware of the deep American involvement in it. The Americans had in fact managed to put the satellite phone in the hands of Sabaya, who may have been convinced he had more to gain by it, because it linked him directly to the people in a position to make the deal.

Just then, American troops were conducting a civil/military-works exercise called Balikatan with their Filipino counterparts in Basilan and Zamboanga City, right in the heart of Abu Sayyaf country. Sate-of-the-art equipment—satellite phones the least of it—was in harness.

Night-vision capability, among other special sensors, allowed spy plants to fly, and helicopters to deploy troops and armor and extricate them from action, in the dark; specific, up-to-the-minute intelligence guided ground troops. Sabaya felt so cramped and insecure he just had to quit Basilan, his traditional stronghold.

But even on the run, Sabaya remained traceable through his rigged phone and by airborne spies; furthermore, by allowing food, medicines, and other provisions dropped for his captives at prearranged points, he betrayed his general position. In fact, right now he was observed, harbored by militias, on Dassalan, an isald off, but not quite outside, Basilan.

Dassalan had been a choice transit point for fugitives escaping north. Hoping to get Sabaya before he could cross into the less predictable, thus, for him, more secure territory of Zamboanga del Norte, I led an amphibious raid on Dassalan.

But, before we could get any closer to the shore, two boats carrying an enemy blocking force cut across us. They drive faster, maneuvered better, but in the end, under our superior and heavier fire, they went under.

Sabay, though, had been afforded time to flee with his hostages, so that when we finally hit shore, all we turned up were high-powered firearms, buried in the sand, their serial numbers filed off.

But no sooner had he crossed into Zamboanga del Norte than he was caught in the surveillance network of Colonel Sabban, who got on the phone with me calling for an immediate seaborne attack. On the advice of Sabban, I built a task force of Marine Force Recon elements and Swags (navy seals) numbering a lean 100 in all.

Not to be outdone, the commander of the U.S. forces in Balikatan, Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, requested that the U.S. trained Light Reaction Company (LRC) participate. Thus, from 100 men, the task force ballooned nearly 20-fold to 2,000.

Meanwhile, the Scout Rangers landed for the main assault drew early fire. The encounter was brief, with the enemy quick to disengage. Neither side took casualties. Among the telltale leavings was a near-empty container of the peanut butter sent to the Burnhams.

The enemy had managed to lose itself deeper inland, untracked for days, until a spy plane spotted a signature Abu Sayyaf formation near where a marine unit seconded to the operation from the Force Recon Battalion happened to have positioned itself.

Alerted, its leader, 1^st Lt. Rommel Bognalbal, came back in a few hours to report that, indeed, an Abu Sayyaf gang had just struck, but had quickly fled, taking with it a heavy-equipment operator, another random hostage apparently.

Employing a bloodhound they borrowed from the Scout Rangers, Bognalbal and his men lost no time in tracking the enemy and, as fresh tracks tended to indicate, felt that it had drawn close by the fifty day. But just then, they were ordered to go no farther and to let Capt. Olliver Almonares’ Scout Rangers take over.

It was a sudden, unexplained divergence from the standing strategy that automatically conceded the job to the trackers that had come closest to the quarry, lest time and momentum be squandered; it turned out exactly the case.

Sabaya had been a sitting duck, resting in a trough that the marine trackers, if only allowed to carry on, could have easily flanked, leaving him no room for escape other than through a steep ravine leading down to a logging trail, itself not a very secure place.

The Scout Rangers who had supplanted Bognalbal’s marines proved themselves unprepared for such swift action; all they did all night was position troops and trucks. Worse, their maneuvers did not escape Sabaya’s notice.

Before dawn, Sabaya was gone again, leaving a mocking trail of used cotton balls and slippers, among other personal belongings, on the ravine and along the logging trail below.

Awakened to the embarrassment at sunrise by a road-grader operator who discovered the escape, Capt. Almonares and his men promptly geared up and gave pursuit. They caught up with Sabaya and his gang as they stopped for prayers at the end of the day.

Gracia Burnham Freed

Surprised, scattered, and forced back on the run, the enemy this time left its hostages behind. Finally, Gracia Burnham, 13 months a hostage, went free. She was to return to Illinois to bury Martin as he had been fatally caught in the crossfire.

One of Sabaya’s men was captured a few days later, after straying, wounded, into a position held by 5^th Marine Battalion commanded by LtCol. Armand Banez—troops on blocking position. Sabaya himself had again disappeared.

Sabaya is Killed

Unseen by us, but observed by the spy plane, our plants debarked upon hitting shore. One fo them proceeded inland and was back after a few minutes with seven other men. All nine of them climbed onto the boat and drove away.

As soon as they reappeared on our radar, about a kilometer out at sea, the American commander of our boat ordered his men to load and lock their firearms in preparation for action.

I prompted stepped in and warned him that he could get himself, me and everyone else in trouble for intruding into territory forbidden under the “terms of reference” of the Balikatan exercise.

Before any argument could ensure, the issue got resolved. Our own marines and SWAGS came speeding by in a shooting chase and rammed the Abu Sayyaf boat, turning it over. I myself watched from a mere 50 meters on our boat, with my now restrained American companions.

Arriving at the scene, just as the guns fell silent, we observed one of the seven terrorist floating away motionless in the mildly choppy waters and shortly going under.

The other two, position astern, had taken the first, and fatal, hits, also sank, we were told by our boatman and Abu Sayyaf asset, who were part of the operation every step of the way, and themselves lived by their own devices unscratched.

Four Abu Sayyaf were plucked out of the water; one of them swam into the hand of oncoming SWAG reinforcements.

But where was Abu Sabaya? The captives said he had been shot and had fallen over, and our plants confirmed he had been with them.

Abu Sabaya’s death, at any rate, has become presumed fact, sustained by the simple logic that, given his irrepressible ebullience, he’d have come out a long time ago if he were alive."

2006 Fort Bonifacio standoff

Main article: 2006 state of emergency in the Philippines

On 24 February 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency in the Philippines after her government foiled a supposed coup plot called Oplan HACKLE. Fourteen junior military officers had been arrested two days before. In the wake of the proclamation, on 26 February 2006, Major General Renato Miranda, the Philippine Marine Corps Commandant, was relieved from his post. Colonel Querubin protested his removal and some Marines started a vigil at Fort Bonifacio. Querubin stated that they would wait there for the people to protect them. Meanwhile, other government security forces loyal to Arroyo locked down Fort Bonifacio, sealing in the protesting Marines. The standoff was resolved that evening. Querubin was detained at Camp Aguinaldo and recommended to undergo pretrial investigation and facing a mutiny charge.

In 2010, President Benigno Aquino III issued Proclamation No. 50, granting amnesty to military personnel linked to the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, the 2006 Fort Bonifacio standoff and the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege.

Retirement

Querubin was deemed resigned on 30 November 2009 but her retired formally on 23 December 2021 when the Philippine Marine Corps tendered his long awaited retirement and testimonial ceremony.

Post-military service

Querubin worked as an internal security consultant for San Miguel Corporation after being granted amnesty. He resigned his commission from the Armed Forces of the Philippines when he ran for a Senate seat as a member of the Nacionalista Party during the 2010 elections. His candidacy was not successful, only garnering 6.5 million votes and landing him in 19th place in the senatorial race. He supported Grace Poe's candidacy during the 2016 Presidential election.

Personal life

Querubin has five children. His first wife, Dr. Loreta Cercenia-Querubin, bore him two - Alfred Benjamin and Francesca Eufrosina. She died in 1994 at the age of 31, and Querubin has remarried; his second wife is Pong Azcarraga Querubin, who bore him three children, Jose Ariel, Ariel, and John Ariel.

Growing up, Querubin was a typical teenager who got into his fair share of youthful exploits. In fact, misdemeanors almost prevented him from graduating from the Philippine Military Academy. This was enough to temper his youthful exuberance. By the time he graduated, he had marks so high he was allowed to choose which branch of service he would serve.

He met the love of his life during his service at the Marines. Pong Azcarraga Querubin had two very young sons when she met Querubin: Now, Cocolife CEO Martin Loon, an almunus of the Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines College of Law and the Georgetown University, and Marine Captain John Michael Loon, 19th of his class in the Philippine Military Academy Class of 2011 and the U.S. Basic Marine School in Quantico, Virginia, a bemedaled marine officer who was wounded in combat during the battle of Marawi in May 2017 and also served in the jungles of Sulu.

The rest of their children are Alfred, Dr. Faye, Jaq and John Querubin, a management engineering student, all from the Ateneo de Manila University and AJ Querubin, an electronics communications engineering student from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

A Brush with Death

In 1989, Querubin was hit by a Sikorsky helicopter gunship and was brought to the morgue of the Quirino Labor hospital where he was mistaken for dead until a doctor saw his PMA bullring and his little finger twitched. He was with other lifeless bodies and had cardiac arrests three times before he transferred to the AFP Medical Center. 13 hours later, the doctors removed a part of his liver, 6 feet of his small intestines, and repaired his ruptured pancreas.

At V. Luna’s Surgical ICU, Ariel met Dra. Loreta Cercenia. She was a member of the three surgical teams that did a 13-hour surgery to repair his ruptured pancreas and liver whose left was damaged and cut 6 feet of his small intestines. When he opened his eyes, Dr. Cercenia was dressing his wounds. Querubin claims that when he opened his eyes, he believed that he was in heaven as he looked up at Dr. Cercenia angelic face, as he recounts.

She would thereafter become his first wife and would bear him two children - Alfred Benjamin and Francesca Eufrosina. Dr. Cercenia died in 1994 at the age of 31.

Querubin has since remarried; his second wife is Pong Azcarraga Querubin, who bore him three children, Jose Ariel, Ariel, and John Ariel. He is also stepfather to Atty. Jose Martin Loon and Marine Captain John Michael Loon, her children from a previous marriage. ^[12][13]

Querubin’s Exploits Helped Shape History

During his career in the military service, Colonel Querubin played a significant role in several legendary exploits, as well as political movements, which have helped shape the history of the military and its role in an emerging global society such as ours.

Not only was he an excellent warrior in the jungles fighting terrorism and insurgency, he too, represents a class of thinking Filipino soldiers imbued with a sense of idealism to take the urgent measures, if necessary, to asset their belief of how and what this country should be.

See also

• Custodio Parcon