3 witnesses in scribe’s slay get government protection

ANGELES CITY — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said three witnesses in last year’s killing of Aurora publisher-editor Philip Agustin are now under the witness protection program of the Department of Justice.

Pedro Roque Jr., NBI-Cabanatuan City chief, said the three include state witness Reynaldo Morete, who admitted serving as a lookout in the gunslaying of Agustin, publisher-editor of Starline Times Recorder.

Morete claimed overhearing the two triggermen as saying that Dingalan, Aurora Mayor Jaime Ylarde was the alleged mastermind.  

The two other witnesses claimed to have seen suspected triggermen Boy Moreta and Emmanuel Alday shoot Agustin in the house of the newsman’s daughter in Dingalan town on May 10 last year. Both suspects are still at large.

Meanwhile, the regional trial court in Baler, the capital town of Aurora, is set to hear Ylarde’s petition for bail on June 6. Ylarde pleaded not guilty during his arraignment last May 24. 

Baler RTC Judge Armando Yanga said Ylarde may yet be granted bail should the prosecution fail to produce the three witnesses during the bail hearing, having failed to appear twice for an "interview" on their testimonies against Ylarde.

Yanga warned that he would cite NBI agents in contempt if they again fail to present the three witnesses as he had ordered twice. 

He said he was not even furnished any official confirmation that Morete has turned star witness.  

"These witnesses have to be interviewed to find out if the evidence against the mayor is strong so we can (determine if) he can be entitled to bail," he said.

Roque, however, insisted that his office has never received any order from Yanga.  

"The judge cannot cite me in contempt because the witnesses are now under the protective custody of the Department of Justice, and are no longer under our authority. Had I received the court orders for their appearance, I would have forwarded them to the DOJ, but I never saw any of the court orders," he said.

"There are reasons that now compel me to have the case transferred to Manila because the witnesses are in Manila where they are being kept under protective custody," he said.

Yanga said the presence of the witnesses during the bail hearing would determine if he would grant Ylarde bail.

"The granting or denial of bail will depend on the strength of the evidence," he said.

The other week, Roque said Ylarde failed to leave for Hong Kong to attend a seminar after immigration agents intercepted him at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez said Ylarde was put on the government’s hold departure list upon the DOJ’s instructions.

Earlier, Justice Raul Gonzales assigned a new prosecution panel to the case as he expressed dismay over its progress.

The new panel, composed of prosecutors Cielito Lindo Luyun, Misael Ladaga and Jose Pedro Navera, amended the resolution issued last January to include Ylarde as the alleged mastermind. 

Ylarde earlier lamented that he was being "tried by publicity." 

"I do not know why the earlier resolution (of the prosecution) that cleared me was changed, but I maintain my innocence," he said.