German mag dared to substantiate rap

An irate presidential adviser Robert Aventajado dared yesterday the German magazine Der Spiegel to substantiate its charges that he and President Estrada pocketed about $6 million in ransom payments to the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf earlier this year.

This developed as former President Fidel Ramos urged the government to investigate the allegations, which he described as "very serious."

Andreas Lorenz, an editor of Der Spiegel, was among local and foreign journalists abducted by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists while covering the six-month hostage drama in Jolo, Sulu earlier this year.

Aventajado, who acted as chief government negotiator with the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, angrily denied the accusations. "These are all lies. I have never received any money (from the ransom payments), much less the President. They have to bring out whatever evidence they have."

Quoting the German secret police, Der Spiegel in its issue due for release today claimed that Mr. Estrada and Aventajado took 40 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from a $20-million ransom payment for the freedom of certain hostages of the Abu Sayyaf.

The German weekly said the secret police obtained the information by tapping satellite telephone conversations between Aventajado and the kidnappers.

"I flatly deny it and I guess I can also speak for the President since I was the chief negotiator," Aventajado said as he noted it was timed for the start of the impeachment trial against Mr. Estrada.

"If it were true there were taped conversations, then I should be given a medal because they could listen to the sacrifices I’ve made," Aventajado said.

He also tried to turn the tables on the Germans by saying the German secret police planned to abduct Renate Wallert, one of the 10 foreigners snatched by Abu Sayyaf gunmen from a resort in Sipadan, Malaysia last April 20, from the negotiators’ custody and demand ransom from their own government.

Aventajado said upon receiving the report, he ordered a tight security for Wallert to foil the kidnap plot.

He also said it was possible that a Filipino journalist related to a ranking member of the Makati Business Club was behind Der Spiegel’s allegations.

He said he has been consulting with his lawyers on the possibility of filing libel charges against the German magazine.

Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said the Palace stands by Aventajado’s denial even as he noted that Der Spiegel’s accusations were vague.

"Let’s see first if someone is coming out and make this specific accusation if the money was really paid. This could again later be denied," Puno said.

Meanwhile, Ramos said his sources in Jolo have told him dollars were awash in the island shortly after the foreign hostages were freed, but government authorities repeatedly denied ransoms were paid.

Ramos, who has joined mounting calls for Mr. Estrada to step down, said European and German law enforcement agencies were generally very "conservative and cautious" about making such statements, and for them to be attributed as the source makes the allegations very serious.

"Somebody must come clean about this from within the Philippines," Ramos said in an interview with ABS-CBN.

Abu Sayyaf gunmen snatched 21 Asian and European hostages in April from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan.

The kidnappers, led by Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot, reportedly raked in millions of dollars for the release of the captives.

More people were seized later including a handful of journalists covering the drama, prompting the military to launch an all-out rescue operation to end the hostage crisis which lasted six months.

The assault resulted in the safe recovery of 12 Filipino preachers headed by evangelist Wilde Almeda of the Jesus Miracle Crusade.

An American Muslim convert and a Filipino dive instructor remain in the hands of the bandits.

Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said the country’s image as a "pariah among international investors" would be boosted if Mr. Estrada failed to credibly refute the German magazine’s accusation.

"This certainly adds fuel to the fire. In the scandal meter, this is ten times bigger than the bribery and corruption charges the President is facing in the impeachment trial," Recto said in a statement.

The Batangas congressman, who bolted the ruling Laban ng Masang Pilipino following charges that Mr. Estrada received more than P400 million in bribes from illegal gambling operators, said the new scandal "will not only hurt the country’s already battered image, but its battered economy as well."

"The Philippines will not only suffer a black eye from these charges. Its whole body will be black and blue," Recto said.

"Even among hard-nosed investors, this type of crime, which is akin to stealing from church alms, will strike a sensitive cord in them," he added.

He also stressed that in today’s "globalized economy," if a national leader is portrayed as a rogue, the economy is affected one way or another.

He said publicly listed companies can be pressured by their investors to temporarily skip the Philippines and European governments can be pressured by civic groups to withhold funding for the Philippines until its leader "shaped up or be shipped out." – With Liberty Dones