‘Espionage case part of coup plot’

President Arroyo believes the espionage case against former police official Michael Ray Aquino and Filipino-American FBI analyst Leandro Aragoncillo may be part of an opposition coup plot against her.

She ordered local law enforcement agencies to seek additional information from the US government on the reported links between Aragoncillo and Aquino and local opposition leaders.

Mrs. Arroyo yesterday heaped scorn on her critics, calling them "robbers" and "coup plotters" after Aquino and Aragoncillo, a naturalized US citizen, were arrested last month for allegedly stealing classified material from the US federal government and passing them on to at least three unidentified opposition figures here.

"You’ve all read the papers," Mrs. Arroyo told local officials in Koronadal City, referring to reports on the arrest of Aquino and Aragoncillo, a former US Marine accused of stealing documents from US Vice President Dick Cheney’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Press reports have said the documents, allegedly stolen by Aragoncillo, were unfavorable to Mrs. Arroyo and were passed on to opponents who have been attempting to destabilize the government.

"I thank the US government that on the day I landed in New York in September (to attend a UN Security Council summit), they arrested and exposed the robbers of classified information generated by US institutions," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"Now these coup plotters and robbers of classified information are trying to cover up for their misdeeds," she said.

"Imagine? They are even prepared to go to the extent of destroying Philippine-American relations just to serve their ambitions for power. But they have been caught," the President said.

Malacañang officials are alarmed over reports that Aragoncillo and Aquino were stealing classified information from the US government and passing them on to the opposition, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.

"It is important that we find out (which of) these individuals in the opposition are involved because the President’s enemies are resorting to any means just to stage a power grab," Ermita said. "The time will come when we will know of the specific plans of those fighting President Arroyo."

"We cannot just help but think that there are some politicians here in this country who are prepared to risk hurting US-Philippine relations just for the sake of their own ambitions," said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman.

Additional security measures would be put in place "so that we could ensure our own security and to thwart whatever evil plots of those attempting to topple the government of President Arroyo," Ermita said.

Some of the opposition leaders who have admitted receiving information from Aquino distanced themselves from the ex-soldier on Friday, instead questioning why the United States had gathered information on Philippine politicians.

Several opposition leaders, including deposed President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, previously said they received information from Aquino.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the possible involvement of opposition members on suspicion they provided money to Aragoncillo and Aquino.

"My theory is there should be a money trail here; that in the history of espionage, there is always money involved. So if this is the situation, who in the Philippines was the source of the funds used in the process of spiriting out the secret files of the FBI and the White House?" Gonzalez told reporters.

"The mere admission of Estrada that he has received... documents, the mere fact that Lacson himself admits he has received some documents — except that they say this information is readily available in our newspapers — indicate the connection (with Aragoncillo)," he added.

The chief of the NBI’s Interpol division, Ricardo Diaz, said Aragoncillo appears to have been receiving money to "pin down" Mrs. Arroyo.

"Based on media reports, it appears that Aragoncillo is a mercenary working for the opposition to supply them with classified documents from the White House," he told reporters.

Diaz said they will coordinate with their FBI counterparts in the investigation. "The evidence might come from the United States."

They will ask US law enforcement agencies to check Aragoncillo’s bank records to establish any money trail leading to the Philippines.

The NBI is keen on unmasking the identities of three Filipino officials who allegedly received documents from Aquino, Diaz said. "Once we know the three persons, we may be able to uncover who is paying (Aragoncillo). It’s either one of them or somebody close to the three persons." — Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan, AFP