Lina ready to resign over Crame jailbreak

He is ready to face the music. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. is ready to face the consequences following Indonesian bomber Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi’s escape from a detention center at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame.

Lina said he "will not debate the point" if "some sectors" believe that command responsibility in the escape of Al-Ghozi, suspected Abu Sayyaf bomb expert Abdul Mukhim Edris and bandit Meram Abante "goes up to the secretary" of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

However, Lina stopped short of categorically saying he would resign over the controversy.

"I might be pictured as someone who is trying to cling to my position," he said, as an investigation into the escape of the three prisoners from the PNP Intelligence Group (IG) jail is underway, as ordered by President Arroyo.

The President has warned she would not hesitate to implement a top-to-bottom revamp of the national police, and she holds PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and other top police officials accountable for the jailbreak.

Mrs. Arroyo issued her warning after the United States and Australia expressed dismay over Al-Ghozi’s escape.

Al-Ghozi was the most senior member of the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to be arrested. He admitted involvement in the Rizal Day 2000 bombings in Manila that killed 22 people. He was also convicted of illegal possession of explosives and was serving out his 12-year sentence when he escaped.

The JI has links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network and is believed to have links with both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf.

Lina said Ebdane is also "ready to face the consequences of this latest escape." Pentagon kidnap gang leader Faisal Marohombsar and suspected Chinese drug lord Henry Tan also made separate, pre-dawn escapes from high-security Camp Crame detention facilities under Ebdane’s watch.

However, Lina also said that under the doctrine of command responsibility, "the supervisor or commander... is the one answerable for misdeeds or irregularities committed by people directly under him."

"We have laws that define command responsibility," Lina said in an interview on ANC’s "On Line" program Thursday night. "Any decision on the matter must be based on objective standards."

He said a revamp of the PNP would "definitely" take place, but added that its "magnitude" would depend on the findings of the independent fact-finding board formed by Mrs. Arroyo.

The other day, the President named former justice secretary Sedfrey Ordoñez and Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong as members of the three-man panel. The panel was completed yesterday when businessman Miguel Valera of the Makati Business Club was named the third member.

"I will not be surprised at all if there will be some revamp, but the extent of the revamp is something that will have to be based on the results of the study of the commission," he said.

Lina added that custodial lapses on the part of the PNP cannot be denied. The escape of Al-Ghozi and his co-detainees bore no apparent signs of a forced exit, raising suspicions the escape was an inside job.

At least four police officers were charged with neglect of duty over the jailbreak. PNP IG head Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza has resigned to make way for the probe into the terrorists’ escape.

"Other officials and PNP personnel, I believe, will be charged (over the terrorists’ escape) over the next few days," Lina said.

He said reported sightings and claims regarding Al-Ghozi’s whereabouts remain unverified. "These reports are rumors at the very best, but, just the same, they are being confirmed. The manhunt is still ongoing... Let us pray that God will bless the manhunt, even as we express indignation and sadness over this unfortunate (incident)."

Lina told The STAR in a telephone interview that the terrorists’ escape could be part of a plot to destabilize and embarrass the government before the international community, particularly since it happened during the state visit of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose country is also actively involved in the global war on terror.

"I am not making any conclusions," Lina said. "But part of the puzzle we are looking into is the timing of the escape. They could have escaped earlier or after the visit of (Howard)."

According to Lina, Al-Ghozi and his fellow escapees knew their way out of Camp Crame and it is possible they may have timed their jailbreak to coincide with Howard’s visit.

While the government is widening its probe into the alleged destabilization plot, Lina said, they are not singling out any specific groups, rather they are concentrating on the facts of the case.

"The facts we have established," he said, are that "there was complete laxity and gross negligence on the part of the PNP jail personnel."

The government is now focused on recapturing Al-Ghozi, Edris and Abante, he said.

During his state visit, Howard provided the Philippines with a A$5 million security package to help train soldiers and police to fight transnational crime.

The training modules include courses on forensic and crime scene investigation, development of port security plans and links between law enforcement and border control officials in Mindanao and their counterparts in neighboring regions.