‘Aragoncillo wined and dined by both administration, opposition lawmakers’

Embattled Filipino-American intelligence analyst Leandro Aragoncillo got the best of both sides of the political fence in the Philippine government, a source close to the erstwhile US Federal Bureau of Investigation agent disclosed yesterday.

The source claimed Aragoncillo, being a White House staff, had been treated well, not only by opposition personalities, but also politicians identified with the Arroyo administration.

Aragoncillo may have been "corrupted" by some politicians due to his perceived closeness with certain top US government officials, including US Vice President Dick Cheney. "He is a good friend, a good person per se. But with all these perks, he may have gone wrong somewhere," the source added.

Apart from being acquainted with former President Joseph Estrada and his sons Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and San Juan Mayor Jose Victor "JV" Ejercito, Aragoncillo was also introduced to some administration lawmakers, the source added.

The source particularly mentioned Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers as one of Aragoncillo’s "sponsors" during his trip to Manila.

"He was dined and wined by this congressman, treated him as (a) VIP (very important person)," the source said.

Aragoncillo was even treated in "for the boys" perks in one of the exclusive night clubs in Metro Manila, courtesy of the Surigao congressman, the source told The STAR.

But the same source admitted he was not privy to the extent of Barbers’ and Aragoncillo’s relationship in terms of dealing with information related to US and Philippine politics.

Aragoncillo, 46, who worked at the White House for almost three years before leaving to take a job with the FBI, allegedly gave Filipino politicians documents stolen from Vice President Cheney’s office.

A naturalized US citizen, Aragoncillo was arrested in New Jersey last month along with a former Philippine police official, Michael Ray Aquino, and also accused of downloading more than 100 classified documents from FBI computers.

Several opposition politicians, including detained former president Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, have all acknowledged receiving information from Aquino. But they denied that they received classified US data.

Aquino, a known protegé of Lacson, has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

Aragoncillo said the information passed to opposition figures amounted to little more than summaries of Philippine media reports compiled by the US Embassy and shouldn’t be considered espionage.

The same source, however, independently confirmed the source of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. who claimed that an administration congressman was supposed to meet Aragoncillo at around the time President Arroyo was in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly last month.

Pimentel claimed a source told him about the supposed meeting that was called off after the congressman learned of Aragoncillo’s arrest.

Pimentel alleged that the opposition was not solely to blame for Aragoncillo’s alleged spy activities but some administration politicians as well.

Although Pimentel did not directly identify Barbers as the "pro-administration" lawmaker, he revealed the same congressman defected to the opposition.