Ador lawyer questions ‘gag order’ issued

A Catholic priest has "gagged" erstwhile police informant Angelo "Ador" Mawanay.

Argee Guevarra, Mawanay’s lawyer, told reporters yesterday Jesuit Fr. Carmelo Caluag might have violated Mawanay’s constitutional rights when he banned him from giving any media interviews without his permission.

"We have to ascertain the requirement of a clearance," he said. "I am not aware of any political pressure regarding the prior restraint ... my client is entitled to freedom of speech. He is speaking the truth as he knows it."

Guevarra said Caluag has no legal basis in "gagging" Mawanay.

"I don’t think that (even Archbishop of Manila Jaime) Cardinal Sin will disallow Mawanay to speak ... they should lay a basis for Fr. Caluag not allowing Ador to entertain (queries from the media)," he said.

But Guevarra refused to answer questions on whether the "ban" on Mawanay’s media interviews has something to do with "sharing the limelight" with Mary "Rosebud" Ong, another star witness on the alleged involvement of Sen. Panfilo Lacson in kidnapping, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.

Mawanay and his family are staying under heavy security at the headquarters of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Mawanay has linked Lacson to smuggling, drug trafficking, and the murder of at least 12 Chinese, who were suspected of drug trafficking, when he was chief of the Philippine National Police.

Mawanay also implicated Sen. Loren Legarda-Leviste in the acquisition of smuggled cellular phones in 1998 and accused Sen. Noli de Castro, broadcaster Korina Sanchez and Leyte Rep. Teodoro Failon Etong of receiving payoffs from Lacson. – Christina Mendez