Retired military officer who sought Marcos ouster arrested for sedition
Retired Philippine Air Force Gen. Romeo Poquiz was arrested on Monday at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) over an inciting to sedition charge, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said.
According to CIDG National Capital Region (NCR) chief Col. John Guiagui, Poquiz arrived at Naia at 8:11 a.m., fresh off a family trip to Thailand. Police then arrested him on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 77.
Poquiz is the convener of the United People’s Initiative (UPI), a group of retired military officers that has called for President Marcos to step down amid the corruption scandal in the government’s flood control projects.
‘Why me?’
The retired military general was brought to the CIDG-NCR headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, around 9:50 a.m.
Poquiz underwent the standard booking procedures—fingerprinting, mug shots, and checkup by a medical exam, according to Guiagui.
He then posted bail of P48,000 at the Quezon City RTC Branch 77, then was returned to the CIDG-NCR headquarters to accomplish further documentary requirements before being released.
Poquiz protested his arrest, asking, “Why am I, why are the people who are expressing their thoughts and protesting because of intense corruption, being sued and arrested like me?”
“The ones who should be sued, arrested are the people who stole billions, the people who took the money that should have been for flood control projects,” he added.
No ouster call
Poquiz also denied calling for Mr. Marcos’ ouster.
The UPI rally at the People Power Monument on Nov. 16 last year, however, featured speakers that openly called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to withdraw support from Mr. Marcos.
Poquiz’s legal counsels, Ferdinand Topacio and Virgilio Garcia, accused the police of initially preventing them from conferring with their client.
“We were insistent. We wanted to talk to our client. They wouldn’t let us through… We wanted to make sure that our client would be transported safely and to know where he would be brought. We were practically chasing after them,” Garcia said in Filipino in a chance interview at Camp Crame.
He added that their camp plans to file administrative and criminal cases against the arresting police officers.
Topacio also said in Filipino, “We blame the executive branch for weaponizing the Department of Justice to persecute and attack those whom they view as enemies of the government.”
“Instead of jailing the corrupt, he jailed those going after the corrupt,” he added.
‘Due process’
Guiagui maintained that Poquiz’s legal counsels were unable to immediately confer with their client because they arrived late and had not yet secured clearance to pass through airport security.
In a separate press briefing at Camp Crame on Monday, acting Philippine National Police chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said the police observed due process in Poquiz’s arrest.
Asked whether the arrest signaled a crackdown on dissenting retired uniformed personnel, Nartatez said: “It’s not personal.”
The AFP, through a statement, reiterated “that while freedom of expression is protected by the Constitution, it must be exercised within legal bounds.”
“Acts that incite participation in rebellion, sedition, or other unlawful activities are punishable under Philippine law, regardless of an individual’s former position or status,” it added.
In July 2025, Poquiz posted on Facebook about the tension in the West Philippines Sea that earned a reaction from the AFP.
“Fighting China head-on to ‘defend sovereignty’ without a real plan is a trap,” Poquiz said in a July 14 post. “It’s not strategy. It’s provocation.’
‘Defeatist, alarmist’
Poquiz, who retired in 2014 and became a social media commentator on Philippine affairs, also said the country needed a leader “who can defend sovereignty without turning Filipinos into cannon fodder.”
“Let’s not be another Ukraine,” Poquiz said of the country fighting Russian invasion since 2022.
“These statements are defeatist and alarmist,” Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said in response to Poquiz’s post.
In September 2025, Poquiz and a handful of other former military officers were linked to protest rallies pressing President Marcos to step down. Some had posted online about taking up arms, claiming to speak for hundreds of military retirees.
The Association of Generals and Flag Officers, a group of more than 1,000 retired generals, later on disclaimed the ouster calls, saying it had not been approached to join alleged destabilization activities and that its members did not support the anti-administration moves by some former officers.
On Oct. 6, Malacañang said it would review whether to file sedition or treason complaints against individuals, including retired military officials, who allegedly attempted and failed to stage a coup d’etat to overthrow the Marcos administration during the Sept. 21 anticorruption protests. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
