‘Batasan 5’ reveal identity of DOJ witness

Though they vehemently denied the rebellion charges filed against them, the "Batasan Five" exposed yesterday another government witness who testified that he saw the militant lawmakers meet with captured Magdalo soldier 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan in a farm in Batangas province last Feb. 20.

A staff member of Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño furnished Congress reporters a copy of the affidavit by Ruel Escala, a 32-year-old confessed homosexual who works as a "manicurist."

Escala said that at about 3 p.m. that day, while he was moving his bowels at the edge of the farm in Barangay Bucal in Padre Garcia town, he saw the party-list lawmakers alight from a white Mitsubishi Adventure van.

"Dahil hindi naman ako makatayo sa kadahilanan na nakababa ang pantalon ko ay nanatili ako sa kinaroroonan ko at tinignan ko ang mga taong bumaba sa van. Ang una kong nakilala ay si (Because I could not stand up with my pants still at my feet, I remained where I was and looked at the people who stepped out of the van. The first I recognized were) Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran, Teddy Casiño, Rafael Mariano, Joel Virador (and) Liza Maza," Escala said.

He claimed the lawmakers met with some 10 other people at the poultry and hog farm. He added that the congressmen’s faces were "familiar" because they were often on television and in the newspapers.

The militant lawmakers, however, failed to provide reporters with a copy of the affidavit filed by Jaime Beltran Fuentes, the "hooded" star witness presented by police the other day to Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, who heads the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel conducting the rebellion probe.

Maza, who represents the women’s party-list group Gabriela, said the police’s presentation of Fuentes, who claimed to be the security chief of activist Vicente Ladlad, "was not only lackluster, but was a big joke."

"This is a clear case of ‘one day, isang araw, I saw, nakita ko...’ This star witness cannot even come up with a date. Fuentes should not be taken seriously. His affidavit is ridiculous!" she said.

Ladlad denied he employed any bodyguard. "I go to my office and attend to other activities all by myself. I drive the car myself. Many people can attest to this plain fact. Fuentes’ claim is a complete lie by a manufactured witness," he said.

Ladlad admitted that he met Fuentes in 1986 but had not heard from him since.

"He has been suddenly resurrected by the government to play a part in the inquisition mainly directed against the progressive parties, organizations and personalities," Ladlad said.

Ocampo, who represents Bayan Muna, was a spokesman for the communist National Democratic Front before joining politics. He downplayed allegations of an attempt to topple the administration of President Arroyo, whom they have urged to step down on charges of cheating in the May 2004 polls.

"As a Bayan Muna leader, it is thus perfectly normal for Ladlad to meet with us, and for us to sit down with him whenever necessary. There is nothing illegal or irregular about meetings among leaders of Bayan and Bayan Muna," Ocampo maintained.

Casiño, for his part, said the "makapili-type" presentation of Fuentes was part of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez’s plan to employ "pathetic theatrics."

Virador, also of Bayan Muna, said Fuentes’ "fabricated" testimony shows that the DOJ and the police "will stop at nothing to produce star witnesses with concocted titles and designations to back up their allegations against us."

Mariano of Anakpawis said Fuentes is apparently a witness for hire.

"Mrs. Arroyo can hire as many witnesses as she wishes. With the 11.4 (percent) unemployment rate, the police have millions of choices from which to present as witness," he said.

Mariano added that Fuentes’ testimony is "so patently contrived" that they are eager to submit their counter-affidavits "so we could start demolishing" his claims.

Fuentes had earlier claimed that the five lawmakers, as well as the organizations to which they belong, are fronts for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been tagged as a terror group by the United States.

He also said that as Ladlad’s security chief, he became privy to a plan to topple the Arroyo administration by these same groups.

Bayan maintained that it is a "legal organization," but expressed concern that the Arroyo administration "has embarked on a vilification campaign aimed at linking legal groups to the armed revolution. This is dangerous because it makes legal organizations open targets as well by the military and police."

Other party-list groups branded Fuentes’ testimony as "bad written fiction" and denied his claims that there were meetings between them in which a coup plot was hatched.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), denied Fuentes had been a member.

NPA national spokesman Gregorio Rosal said neither he nor other NPA members knew Fuentes.

Rosal, who is in hiding, said he would attend the DOJ’s preliminary investigation if summoned in order to face the DOJ and Fuentes.

Rosal said his last meeting with Ladlad was in 2001 when the NPA released Army Col. Noel Buan in Mindoro after a period of captivity. He also said Ladlad was a former top party leader who administered his communist wedding in 1981 in Southern Tagalog. — With Katherine Adraneda, Jaime Laude