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Saturday, July 09, 2005
NBI needs Chinese translator for wiretapped deal
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has obtained a copy of the compact disc of the alleged wiretapped conversation between two persons discussing the reported P200,000 King kidnapping case payoff.
But a source inside the agency revealed that agents are still no closer to finding out the truth.
For starters, the conversation is in Chinese.
“We have to get somebody to translate the conversation,” the source revealed.
But lawyer Deolito Alvarez, the King family’s lawyer in Cebu, said there are other versions of the disc.
Both he and Richard King, interviewed after a press conference last Thursday, denied having copies of the disc.
Also, while they appear to be the party most benefited by the circulation of the compact discs, they denied being behind the recording.
They also expressed their doubts against the NBI’s investigation.
A group of independent lawyers from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) would be better suited to conduct the investigation, they said.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, despite allegations that the P200,000 mentioned in the recording was either for him or for an aide, earlier instructed the NBI to thoroughly investigate the matter.
In a letter faxed to NBI 7 Director Medardo de Lemos, Gonzalez said that if the agency obtains a copy of the recording, they are to have it immediately authenticated and analyzed.
“I was informed that people conversing were speaking in Chinese which, if true, could never have been people in the DOJ,” he said.
Gonzalez also wants the NBI to take into account how “a similar charge against then secretary Simeon Datumanong about a P2-million bribe, when Datumanong dismissed a case against co-respondent Grace Tan Go involving the same incident.”
He said he is ready to have the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police assist in the
probe, if necessary.
He also directed de Lemos to “invite the lawyers of James King to aid as continuing observer(s)” in the course of the investigation. (KNR)
(July 9, 2005 issue)
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