Ex-Erap buddy Atong Ang back in RP, whisked off to NBI office

Fugitive Charlie "Atong" Ang arrived in Manila on Friday morning from the United States, where he fled and hid for five years after the ouster of his former buddy, ex-President Joseph Estrada. A co-accused in the plunder case against Estrada pending before the anti-graft court, Ang seemed clueless about whether he would be prosecuted or asked to stand as a state witness against his former political patron. "I haven't talked to any lawyer.... I'm going to get a lawyer first," he said. Ang, who said his life was in serious threat from groups he did not identify, wore a black bullet-proof vest apparently provided by government agents, on top of a long-sleeved shirt. He alighted from the plane in handcuffs, escorted by Reynaldo Esmeralda, deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, whose team fetched Ang in the US. GMA 7 reporter Jiggy Manicad reported that the Nissan Patrol vehicle Ang boarded was also bullet-proof. Television footage from GMA 7's "Unang Balita" showed Ang being escorted by several agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to a Nissan Patrol vehicle which took him to the NBI headquarters in Manila. Ang arrived at the NBI headquarters at 6:19 a.m., under heavy escort by armed agents. Reporters were barred from interviewing Ang at the NBI headquarters. After undergoing finger-printing procedures at the NBI, Ang told reporters, "I am both happy and sad that I am home." From the NBI, Ang will reportedly be taken to the office of the Department of Justice where a press conference is scheduled at 10 a.m. Friday. In a phone interview with GMA 7 news anchor Arnold Clavio while still aboard the Nissan patrol vehicle, Ang said he believed the threat to his life is serious. "I think its (threat) is serious. I think (my situation) is delicate," Ang said in Filipino. Asked about his plans regarding his plunder case pending before the Sandiganbayan, Ang said: "I haven't talked to any lawyer...I'm going to get a lawyer first." Ang said he had not talked with either the camp of deposed President Estrada or with any government representatives while in the US. "I still don't know what will happen next," Ang repeatedly said. His children are now based in the US but Ang said he failed to have even a word with them before flying to Manila. "We did not see each other anymore," Ang said. "The children were crying but the marshals didn’t allow me to see them. I was whisked off to the plane at once." "Whatever happens, I am now in the Philippines," Ang said, adding that he has no idea at all if he would be put in jail by Philippine authorities. "Let’s see what they will do... I have no idea yet." While he was in the US, immigration agents placed Ang under 24-hour custody and had a tracking gadget strapped to his foot. Ang said he was not sure either whether it was bettter to be back home in the country, or remain in the US. "I really don’t know. let's see what happens next. It's a come what may situation for me," Ang said. - GMANews.TV