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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Gov’t sets case v. cohorts of convicted ex-police officer
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) is now preparing to build up the case against the "unindicted Filipino co-conspirators" of former police officer Michael Ray Aquino, who was sentenced to three years in prison for unauthorized possession of classified US documents.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. on Wednesday said he will immediately ask his US counterpart to furnish him, as promised, copies of documents used by the prosecution as evidence against Aquino during his trial in Newark, New Jersey.
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"We (will be) looking at the entire records of his case. I will write to the US Department of State to furnish us specific documents because of the fact that these are on-record that some Filipino unindicted co-conspirators were named clearly in the documents," he told reporters.
Gonzalez said the co-conspirators may be held liable for violation of certain Philippine laws for espionage or even sedition.
"They may have damaged the Republic by exposing matters which are confidential in character, affected our defense situation or even the stability of the State itself," he said.
While it is the duty of the government to help Aquino secure a fair trial in the US, Gonzalez said that it might be an entirely different scenario once Aquino finishes his jail term and be extradited for his other pending cases here.
He was referring to the Kuratong Baleleng rubout case in the Supreme Court and the Salvador "Bubby" Dacer-Emmanuel Corbito double-murder case still pending at the Manila court wherein Aquino and former members of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) stood charged.
Earlier, Gonzalez said Aquino's decision to plead guilty to unauthorized possession of classified documents could weaken the criminal charges that may be filed against Filipino politicians believed to have conspired to destabilize the Arroyo administration.
He said Aquino's legal tactic to plea bargain strengthened the espionage case against Fil-American Leandro Aragoncillo, a former intelligence analyst at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and effectively cleared their alleged co-conspirators and limited the conspiracy to just between him and Aragoncillo.
Aragoncillo, who also worked as aide for US Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney, pled guilty in May to conspiracy, saying he gave the information to Aquino and some opposition politicians in the Philippines who wanted to oust Arroyo.
The recipients allegedly included former President Joseph Estrada, who was ousted five years ago; Senator Panfilo Lacson; and former House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella. Others who admitted receiving emails from Aragoncillo include Estrada's sons, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” and San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
The plea deal would enable Aquino to avoid an espionage charge, which could have sent him to prison for life. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Since he has already served most of his jail term, he would be booked for the remaining three years of his sentence. (ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (July 19, 2007 issue)
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