Well, apparently, this telenovela ain’t over yet. Many of us believe that deposed President Estrada is masterminding all the troubles that the first couple is having in the hands of his loyal dogs, Sen. Lacson or Sen. Edgardo Angara and Sen. Gringo Honasan. What’s really happening here? Are we seeing a switching of roles, that Erap is now directing this telenovela? For sure, everyone is on a "self-serving" mode, thinking only of their own selfish political interests, never mind that their kind of politics destroys, not only the nation, but even the marriage of the first couple.
Meanwhile, it is unfortunate that all the top news publications are just too busy focusing on the "usual" big news stories available. But buried deep in the second-to-the-last page of a top news daily last Wednesday was a very interesting story that should have been in the front page, but somehow, was obviously or purposely buried in the inside pages. It’s the report that a former Erap close-in aide was sentenced to death for kidnapping. In my 17 years as a journalist, a story like this should have stood out, after all, that man is close to Erap under whose term, kidnapping was a daily fare.
That former close-in security of then Vice-President Erap is former Marine Sgt. Joseph Mostrales who was sentenced to death by the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court for kidnapping the daughter of a dermatologist in the year 2001. Angela Dee Pineda, the kidnapped girl was freed after 26 days in captivity by Mostrales and two of his companions after they got a hefty ransom of P11 million. Sgt. Mostrales was Erap’s close in aide until he was deposed in EDSA Dos.
Question… Why didn’t Sgt. Mostrales remain in Marine service after Erap was booted out? It wasn’t explained in that report, but we would have assumed that he should have continued on with his military service, after all, service in the military is not co-terminus with the President. So why would he quit with Erap? I can only reckon that the reason behind this is something more sinister, he may have been doing more than just military work.
Why am I interested in this story? The answer to that is a question – how many close-in aides of our former Presidents were ever sentenced to death for kidnapping? Frankly speaking, I don’t know of anyone. I also don’t believe that Sgt. Mostrales just suddenly turned into a kidnapper in just a year after Erap was deposed. I would like to believe that Sgt. Mostrales must have been doing this sort of thing while he was still in active service.
So the million peso question is, why hasn’t Mostrales or the rest of his (two of them were supposedly sentenced in absentia, but believed to be missing or dead) gang been linked with the Dacer-Corbito kidnapping or the missing Casino videoman, Edgar Bentain? I don’t know. Maybe the police or the National Bureau of Investigation ought to look into this case again. Who knows, it just might have a direct link with Erap and his pals. After all, these were sensational crimes that happened during Erap’s watch and investigators have hit a blank wall into these cases. Is Sgt. Mostrales the missing link?