Govt to assist opposition members in US espionage case

The government will assist members of the opposition implicated in the espionage case the US government has filed against a Filipino-American, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday. Ermita said that Malacanang will ensure that the rights of former president Joseph Estrada, senator Panfilo Lacson and Camarines Sur Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella are protected and upheld whatever will be the outcome of the case filed against FBI intelligence analyst Leandro Aragoncillo. Estrada, Lacson and Fuentebella have been implicated in the espionage case for allegedly receiving illegally obtained information from Agoncillo. Ermita said that the government is still waiting official word from the US government on the fate of three opposition leaders and whether they need the assistance from the government. “For the moment, all I can say is they’re our friends even if they are with the political opposition camp," he said. Aragoncillo and former police Sr. Supt. Michael Ray Aquino were arrested on September 2005 for illegally downloading and distributing several classified documents from the FBI. Reports said of the 101 documents they obtained, 37 had been classified as “secret" and had been forwarded to some officials in the Philippines. The said documents reportedly refer to political situation in the country including the alleged threats against the Arroyo administration. –GMANews.TV