Atong Ang to be arraigned on plunder charges before Sandigan today

Three days after his extradition from the US, disgraced former presidential adviser Charlie "Atong" Ang will be presented for arraignment today before the Sandiganbayan on plunder charges.

The arraignment will also coincide with the hearing on his petition to remain under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) during the duration of his trial.

Ang claimed that threats on his life made it necessary for him to be under NBI custody, instead of in the more crowded Quezon City Jail.

The Sandiganbayan scheduled the arraignment for today after the NBI formally notified the anti-graft court that it had successfully served the warrant of arrest on Ang after his extradition from the US, five years after the plunder case was filed, with former President Joseph Estrada as co-accused.

The NBI said it has prepared tight security for Ang in coordination with the Quezon City police and the Sandiganbayan sheriff’s office under Edgardo Urieta.

Urieta said a tight security cordon would be implemented in and outside the court during the arraignment.

"The security team will be composed of elements from the NBI, the Quezon City police, and the security and sheriff’s office of the Sandiganbayan. Security will be tight," Urieta said.

On his flight home, Ang repeatedly stressed the threats on his life, claiming some people wanted him silenced because of the possibility he might be utilized as a state witness.

Ang reportedly agreed to spill the beans on what he knows about dormant controversial cases, including the Kuratong Baleleng rubout controversy in 1995, the disappearance of casino worker Edgardo Bentain in 1999 and the kidnap-slay of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.

"These threats could be due to speculations that he will be used as a state witness against the other accused and he will be providing information in connection with the other cases, viz: the Kuratong Baleleng and Bentain cases," Ang’s lawyer Alfredo Villamor stated in the petition filed before the court.

Even before the extradition, Villamor claimed Ang had been receiving text messages and anonymous phone calls warning him against returning to the Philippines "for his own good."

Villamor clarified his client is not insinuating that any of the co-accused in the plunder cases are behind the threats, saying "they could have come from anybody."

Villamor pointed out the NBI has implemented tight security on Ang when he arrived in the country last Friday.

He said the large contingent of NBI agents securing Ang from the airport to the NBI headquarters is a "clear confirmation of the seriousness of such threats."

"Perhaps the NBI, through its own sources, has confirmed for itself the existence of such threats," Villamor said.

To commit Ang to the Quezon City Jail would be a "clear gamble on his (Ang’s) life," the lawyer argued.

Ang flew to Las Vegas with his family shortly after Estrada was ousted from office in a popular revolt in January 2001, triggered by the aborted impeachment trial on allegations made by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.

Singson had accused Ang of funneling tobacco tax kickbacks amounting to P130 million and illegal gambling payoffs to Estrada.

Ang was arrested at a Las Vegas hotel-casino in November 2001 following the arrest warrant issued by the Philippines on the charge of plunder. — With Evelyn Macairan