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Friday, September 23, 2005
Speak out: Michael Ray Aquino’s case
By Dr. Aguido A. Magdadaro
Talisay City
This is to contribute my few cents worth of analysis on the controversy hounding Michael Ray Aquino and Leandro Aragoncillo, both accused of espionage by the US government.
To roil the issue, Rep. Roilo Golez, a former intelligence officer, accused the US government of spying on the Philippines for keeping records of confidential materials about the country.
As if to say that had the US government not kept the information filched by Aragoncillo, Aquino could not have committed espionage.
To my naïve mind, the relevant issue here is the unlawful disclosure by a confidential US agent, Aragoncillo, of classified or secret information that is prohibited by US laws.
The content of such secret information is immaterial. The real issue is that a person of confidence, here US agent Aragoncillo, made unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
Whether the information is tsismis, of public knowledge, speculations, theories, facts or fiction, is beside the point. It is the unauthorized disclosure, not the content that defines the crime of espionage.
Aquino, Aragoncillo and their friends in the Philippines are perhaps liable for violating US federal law on espionage. Did they, or did they not disclose classified information?
(September 23, 2005 issue)
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