MANILA, Oct 17: A ranking Philippine army official under investigation for massive graft was placed in custody at military headquarters on Sunday and will be made to face a congressional inquiry.

Major General Carlos Garcia was transferred from a private hospital where he has been undergoing treatment for hypertension to the military's Camp Aguinaldo in suburban Quezon city north of Manila, military spokesman Lt Col Daniel Lucero said.

Garcia was suspended last week for allegedly amassing unexplained wealth in excess of a million dollars during his tenure as the military's finance officer. His monthly salary was only just above 600 dollars.

He failed to show up at a Congressional inquiry into alleged corruption in the armed forces after he was hospitalized due to hypertension.

But Lucero said he was moved to military barracks early Sunday upon the orders of armed forces chief General Narciso Abaya, who will also appear before the inquiry on Monday.

"This only shows decisiveness on the part of the military to show the public we are not hiding him," Lucero said over local radio. "We are not protecting him and he has to answer all the allegations against him."

President Gloria Arroyo last week also ordered court martial proceedings for Garcia, the highest ranking military official in recent history to be placed under investigation for graft.

The case has boosted public concerns about corruption within the military, just a year after Arroyo crushed a rebellion by 300 junior officers and enlisted men who accused their generals of enriching themselves.

Analysts have said that unless Arroyo weeds out corruption within the force, it could lead to more coup attempts by disgruntled soldiers.

Accusations of massive graft also triggered uprisings that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and president Joseph Estrada in 2001.-AFP