Lacson ready to give deposition for Aquino in US espionage case

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Re-electionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson welcomed yesterday the move of the counsel of his former police deputy Michael Ray Aquino to visit him and get his statement, possibly as witness, for the former colonel. Aquino faces espionage charges in the US.

"If it will help Aquino’s case, or at least improve his chances of getting a lighter sentence, I will be more than willing to give a deposition without sacrificing the truth," said Lacson in a text message to The STAR.

Lacson, a former national police chief, maintained he was not at fault even if he received the classified reports sent by Aquino and former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Leandro Aragoncillo through e-mail messages.

Lacson said "there was nothing sensitive or classified in those email messages I had read or heard about them through media before I received them. Some were even rubbish."

Lacson was reacting to reports that a US Judge has allowed Aquino’s lawyer, Mark Berman, to fly to Manila to get his deposition.

Aquino and Aragoncillo were arrested one after the other in New Jersey on Sept. 10 last year.

Records showed that Aquino is facing a sentence between 70 to 87 months or about five to eight years in prison plus $250,000 fine after pleading guilty last July to unlawfully possessing secret US government documents containing information relating to national defense as well as information on terrorist threats to US military personnel in the Philippines.

His co-accused, Aragoncillo, has opted to undergo plea negotiations after admitting to printing and/or downloading 101 classified documents related to the Philippines, 37 which were marked as "SECRET."

Aragoncillo’s cover was blown when he tried to use his influence to intervene before US immigration officials for Aquino, who was arrested for overstaying his visa. Aquino reportedly entered the US as a tourist on July 2001 via Hong Kong to avoid pending criminal charges against him in Manila.

The FBI then launched an audit that showed Aragoncillo gained authorized access to documents pertaining to the Philippines.

US court records culled by The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre) showed that Aquino is charged for "knowingly communicating classified information by a government employee to an agent or representative of a foreign country (i.e. receiving classified information); acting as an agent of a foreign official without notification of the Attorney General in violation of Title 18 of the US Code, Section 951; and conspiracy to commit all of the above offenses in violation of Title 18 of the US Code Section 371."

The CI Centre described Aquino as "not cooperating with authorities."  

Court records culled by the CI Centre in its website revealed that Aquino and Lacson exchanged e-mail messages, some of which included the messages from Aragoncillo.

"Sir, the other day Leandro ‘Lean’ Aragoncillo called me. ... He wants to talk to you and give you some updates on the political situation in the country," read an e-mail allegedly sent in January 2005 by Aquino to his former boss.

In the same website, Lacson allegedly e-mailed Aragoncillo sometime in January 2005, saying, "I find all the information that you are sending me very useful. I hope you will continue sending more."

In another exchange of email messages in August 2005 with former President Joseph Estrada, Aragoncillo said: "By no means would you show this information. ... I will be affected severely. Again, please protect the source – Me." – Christina Mendez