Erap, Ping may not be on Aquino indictment list — lawyer

NEW YORK CITY — Ousted President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Panfilo Lacson and other politicians who received supposedly classified information from detained former senior police officer and Lacson aide Michael Ray Aquino are not necessarily included in the detailed indictment against him.

Mark Berman, Aquino’s court-appointment public defender, told Filipino journalists that the United States Attorney’s office has 30 days from last Monday — when Aquino and a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) analyst were charged — to present the detailed charges, including supporting evidence.

He said he could not make an assessment of the charges because the details and the supporting evidence are not yet available.

When asked if three unnamed Filipino officials who reportedly received information from Aquino could be included in the charges, Berman said, "That depends on the government making an indictment." For his part, Assistant US Attorney Karl Buch, who is handling the spying case, said he could not make further comments until the indictment is handed down.

Though US authorities have not named them, Estrada, Lacson, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., and Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez have admitted receiving e-mail messages from Aquino.

However, the four officials said they did not consider the information contained in the messages to be "classified" or sensitive to US interests.

Accused with the former police officer is Leandro Aragoncillo, the FBI analyst assigned at a US army camp in nearby New Jersey who allegedly passed to Aquino sensitive information about the Philippine political situation and political leaders.

There has been speculation that part of the information is related to the controversial "Hello, Garci" audiotapes.

Aquino and Aragoncillo were arrested Saturday last week and presented in court Monday. Aquino is being held at the Passaic County Correctional in New Jersey. It is not known where Aragoncillo is detained.

Aquino was Lacson’s operations officer in the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force. Before joining the FBI, Aragoncillo was with the US Marine Corps. He retired honorably in September 2004 as a gunnery sergeant after 21 years of service.

Aquino was first arrested in March here for overstaying. However, he was released after presenting a petition from a potential employer. He had studied nursing and is a registered nurse.

According to Consul General Cecil Rebong, the former police officer holds a valid passport, contrary to reports that he is an undocumented alien. There had been reports that the government cancelled his passport.