Thursday, August 23, 2007 Justice dep't to revive probe on espionage case
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has received from the US State Department not one but 12 compact discs (CDs) and two volumes of documents used as evidence in the trial of convicted former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) analyst Leandro Aragoncillo and former police officer Michael Ray Aquino.
Aquino, in his testimonies, supposedly named his "un-indicted Filipino co-conspirators."
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. disclosed on Monday that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales furnished the DOJ copies of the records of the court trial held in New Jersey where the espionage case and conspiracy against Aragoncillo and Aquino were heard.
The documents, contained in 12 CDs, supposedly contained the intercepted conversations of Aragoncillo and Aquino with some Filipino co-conspirators. Aside from the CDs, also submitted to Gonzalez were transcriptions of the court hearing and documentary exhibits that were used as evidence during the trial.
Aragoncillo, who used to work in the office of former US vice president Al Gore, was sentenced to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty of stealing classified documents and passing them on to Aquino, who himself meted six years in prison.
"I think we can start also the reopening of the Aragoncillo case here. I'm just transcribing thousands of documents that we have received from the court. We have received all documents of the trial. As a matter of fact, we have the assurance from the US prosecutors to testify here," he said.
Gonzalez offered the information to reporters after he was asked to comment about the reopening of the "Hello Garci" scandal by Senator Panfilo Lacson during a privilege speech wherein former Technical Sergeant Vidal Doble of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces (Isafp) appeared in a video tape to testify about the authenticity of the "mother of all tapes" of recorded conversations of Arroyo with former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
In that infamous recording, Garcillano was told by the President to ensure that she will have a one-million vote lead over actor Fernando Poe Jr., her closest contender in the May 10, 2004 presidential race.
"It's tit-for-tat. If they don't want to let sleeping dogs lie, it's all right," Gonzalez said, adding that the court documents from the US might "embarrass some people."
Gonzalez said the documents were brought back by DOJ Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda from Newark, New Jersey but that government lawyers have yet to determine what particular cases will be filed against the "unindicted co-conspirators" of Aquino.
"If we find there are cases to be filed against the unindicted co-conspirators, we will file. There are testimonies here that mentioned about the Kuratong Baleleng case, they might embarrass some people if we have the goods against these people. If we use it, this will be damaging," he said.
He was referring to the Kuratong Baleleng rubout case in the Supreme Court (SC) and the Salvador "Bubby" Dacer-Emmanuel Corbito double-murder case still pending at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), wherein Aquino and former members of the defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (Pacc) stood charged.
Gonzalez said that there were less than 10 names mentioned by Aquino as recipients of the classified information passed on by Aragoncillo. Without mentioning the names, he was apparently referring to Lacson, Aquino's previous superior at the Pacc and former President Joseph Estrada. Other individuals who admitted receiving documents through email from Aragoncillo were former House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella; Estrada's sons, Senator Jinggoy and San Juan
Mayor JV Ejercito and Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
However, Gonzalez cleared that even if Lacson did not revive the Garcillano controversy, he would still have revealed the US documents to the public.
"Lacson's privilege speech to have the Garci case reopened is an old story with new embellishments. Obviously the statements of Doble are also embellished. How could he say it's the President, he wasn't there when she and Garcillano were talking?
Last month, Gonzalez requested his US counterpart to be furnished copies of documents used during the trial of Aquino wherein he named his "unindicted Filipino co-conspirators."
In his letter to the US Attorney General, Gonzalez pointed out that since Aquino's alleged co-conspirators, some of whom are national figures in the Philippines, have been identified, documents presented in court during the trial established the linkage between the accused and these "uninvited" individuals.
He further said that the crimes for which Aquino has been convicted in the US are also crimes punishable under Philippine laws and that the evidence presented were damaging and detrimental to the government.
He also told Gonzales that the Philippine Government expects Aquino to be deported to the country after he has served the remainder of his six-year sentence. (ECV/Sunnex)
