Senate wants FVR to shed light on collusion

The Senate committee on national defense and security wants to summon former President Fidel Ramos to help shed light on the investigation on the alleged collusion between the Armed Forces and the bandit group Abu Sayyaf.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.. said he has already asked defense committee chairman, Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., to invite Ramos to explain the charge of Lamitan parish priest Cirilo Nacorda.

According to Pimentel, Nacorda claimed that he informed the former president about the collusion between the military and the Abu Sayyaf as early as 1999.

"It’s the advantage of Mr. Ramos to appear and clarify the issue or else we will depend our conclusion on the unrebutted evidence," Pimentel told reporters during the Kapihan sa Sulo forum at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City.

The Senate and House of Representatives are conducting separate investigations on the accusations of Nacorda and other Lamitan residents that the military let the Abu Sayyaf escape a dragnet in Lamitan, Basilan on June 2.

Pimentel also supported Magsaysay’s pronouncement that military officers who are found to have colluded with the bandits must be tried by court martial to prevent other government troopers from being involved in the illegal practice.

Aside from conniving with the Abu Sayyaf, military officers should also be court martialled for violating the no-ransom policy of the government.

Witnesses claimed military officers in the field ordered the pull-out of troops for briefing at the height of the military assault on the Lamitan town hospital on June 2.

Pimentel mentioned in particular the testimony of Fe Castro, a nurse of the Jose Torres Memorial Hospital in Lamitan, who claimed he saw Brigadier General Romeo Dominguez give P1,000 bills to the hospital director.

Castro said the money was taken from a briefcase, which was carried by Dominguez aides at the height of the siege.

"I tend to believe her story because she has nothing to gain, not to mention the risk she has to go through because she doesn’t have any protection from anybody," Pimentel added.

The senator said though Nacorda has no personal knowledge in the alleged collusion between the bandits and the military, the priest has many witnesses who claimed to have seen the apparent collusion.

Unless rebutted by evidence, Pimentel said evidence presented by Nacorda could bolster the charge of collusion between the military and the bandits.

The senator also brushed aside suggestions that demoralization has swept the military because of the probe, saying "some military officials and personnel who were not involved in the misdeeds were enthusiastic."

"Without the investigation, the whole command will be subject to criticism, he added. "In the end, if they were not part of the collusion they will be cleared while those responsible will be held liable for their illegal activities."

Pimentel also urged Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes to commend government troopers who have done heroic acts in the field because they have risked their lives for the love of the country.