Gov’t to help defend Erap, Ping, Fuentebella on US espionage case

Malacañang said yesterday it would extend legal protection to former President Joseph Estrada and the two opposition leaders who were implicated in an espionage case in the United States.

Palace officials also assured the three they would cooperate with US authorities in the investigation.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the government will wait for any request for assistance from US authorities in connection with their investigation into the spy ring implicating Estrada, Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Camarines Sur Rep. Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella.

The three were named as alleged conspirators in a plot to gather intelligence information from Filipino-American intelligence analyst Leandro Aragoncillo.

US Assistant Attorney Karl Buch publicly named the three officials as "unindicted co-conspirators" of Aragoncillo, a former intelligence analyst of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and White House accused of passing secrets to opposition politicians in the Philippines.

Buch made the disclosure before Senior US District Judge William Walls during a hearing of the espionage case of Aragoncillo and former Philippine police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino in Newark, New Jersey.

Ermita assured all legal protection will be given to the three opposition figures.

"But for the moment, all I can (say) is... they’re all our friends even if they are known to be with the political opposition," Ermita said.

"You can rest assured that the Philippine government will ensure that the rights of our citizens are properly protected (and) whatever assistance may be needed will be extended by Philippine authorities," he said.

Just because they are critics of President Arroyo, Ermita said Malacañang "would not be jumping into the wagon" in having them indicted in the US for espionage.

Ermita stressed the case stemmed from violation of US laws and the Philippines had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation by the FBI.

He said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is now preparing its response if ever the US government requests assistance.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the government is prepared to answer any possible request from the US government to extradite the three opposition figures.

"The DOJ has no role yet. There is no extradition request," Gonzalez stressed, declining to discuss further a possible extradition request from the US.

"I do not think you can force any Tom, Dick and Harry to testify or incriminate himself. I have not seen the request for extradition yet. They (US government) will have to file the request for extradition against (the three)," he said.

Gonzalez noted the US can invoke the extradition treaty with the Philippine government "pursuant to the provisions of the treaty, persons whom the authorities in the requesting state have charged with or convicted of an extraditable offense."

Under the guidelines for extradition, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs will determine if the request meets the requirements of the Philippine Extradition Law of 1977, and the treaty or convention being invoked.

If the request is in order, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs will transmit the request and other related documents to the DOJ who will designate and authorize a lawyer to take charge of the case.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilberto Asuque said a formal notification or communication from the US Attorney General coursed through the US State Department will be the basis in determining if Estrada, Lacson and Fuentebella need to make a trip to the US as witnesses.

"There has to be a formal notification coursed through the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C.," Asuque said.

The US Embassy in Manila said it would leave to the court to determine if it is necessary for Estrada, Lacson and Fuentebella to travel to the US to testify in the espionage case against Aquino and Aragoncillo.

"We will let the legal system do that. That is entirely a judicial matter," Press Attaché Matthew Lussenhop said.

Lussenhop though declined to comment further when asked if the embassy will facilitate the trip to the US of the three as witnesses for the defense.

"The trial is still ongoing. It is not appropriate for us to comment on a matter in the judicial branch of government," he said.

Earlier reports said Mark Berman, Aquino’s defense counsel, had sought permission from the court to secure the deposition of the three Filipino officials on videotape and play it before a grand jury.

Berman argued that critical to Aquino’s defense are depositions of witnesses who "are unlikely to voluntarily travel to the United States."

But US prosecutors, however, opposed Berman’s motion for its failure to confirm if the testimonies are material to the case, or the reasons why the witnesses would not make the trip to the US.

Estrada and Lacson have previously admitted getting information from both defendants in the case.

The former leader also expressed his reluctance to make a deposition on behalf of Aquino and Aragoncillo.

He also expressed his amusement over reports naming him as one of the conspirators in the US spy ring. — With Pia Lee-Brago