Pasay court to handle probe into wiretapping complaint vs Doble

The Department of Justice has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to file criminal charges against former intelligence agent Vidal Doble under Republic Act 4200, also known as the Anti-Wiretapping Law. In a statement, Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, who is currently acting justice secretary while Agnes Devanadera is on leave, said the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office has already assigned a team of prosecutors to handle the investigation of the complaint. The directive to the NBI came following a report submitted by NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence lawyer Ruel Lasala. The bureau has been directed to charge Doble before the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office based on a complaint affidavit submitted by NBI Head Agent Regner Peneza, chief of the Counter-Intelligence Division, that the former agent is liable for violation of Sections 1 and 2 of RA 4200. In his two-page affidavit-complaint, Peneza said the offenses involved incidents and admissions allegedly made by Doble on September 7, 17, 25 and October 1, 2007. Peneza disclosed that in the hearings of the joint committees on national defense and security, accountability of public officers and investigation and constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws at the Senate, Doble described acts, which the DOJ said were in violation of the wiretapping law. Among the acts Doble allegedly committed was when admitted monitoring, taping and transcribing conversations of particular cellular phones from September 3, 2003 to April 2005. Doble is likewise being charged for producing tape recordings and compact discs of the monitored conversations and for handing some master tapes to a certain Angelito Santiago. It was Santiago who, in turn, handed the tapes to NBI former deputy director for Intelligence Samuel Ong. Doble also admitted having received P2 million for the tapes. On September 3, 2007, NBI Agent Peneza was earlier ordered by Acting Deputy Director for Intelligence Edward Villarta to monitor the proceedings at the Senate, especially those that have bearing on violations of criminal laws. "Due to wide publicity on the alleged wiretapping activities, the bureau took interest in intently monitoring the hearings of the Committees, where Doble, under oath, testified in detail on the alleged wiretapping he conducted," the DOJ said. There were no indications yet on whether Doble would be charged for his alleged womanizing, which was likewise bared before the Senate hearing. The hearing also uncovered Doble's presence at the Solid Mills building in Makati City in 2000, when Doble was with the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). - GMANews.TV