AFP: Guteza not detained by Marines

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reiterated yesterday that neither the Philippine Navy nor the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) is holding witness Orly Guteza, the former soldier who testified on alleged flood control project anomalies and has since gone missing.

- By MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN

Former lawmaker Mike Defensor claimed that Guteza — introduced at the Senate probe as a former security aide of resigned Ako Bicol party-list congressman Zaldy Co — was in the custody of the Marines.

Rear admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, refuted the allegation, stressing that the AFP and its major services had already denied any involvement.

“The statement of the AFP, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Marine Corps has already categorically denied that Guteza is under the protection of the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Marine Corps or he is being held without his permission,” Trinidad said.

“He is not with the Philippine Navy, he is not with the Philippine Marine Corps. He has already been retired for a long time,” he told reporters in Filipino.

Navy spokesperson Capt. Marissa Martinez also dismissed claims that Guteza’s family had contacted either the Navy or the PMC for assistance.