Agra, ex-NBI chief in hot water over Ampatuan bribe try
By Benjamin B. Pulta 07/16/2010 Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said former Justice Secretary Alberto Agra and former National Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring will be formally asked to explain why they failed to initiate an investigation into the claim of an NBI official that a retired Air Force official attempted to bribe a key witness in the Maguindanao massacre case. De Lima noted that Ricardo Diaz, chief of the NBI’s Counter-Terrorism Unit, in his sworn statement filed before the Department of Justice (DoJ), told Agra about the P10-million offer made by a certain retired Air Force Col. Juanito Mariano. The amount was supposedly meant to secure the recantation of Kenny Dalandag, a witness in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre. Dalandag, a member of the Ampatuan private army, claimed that he saw former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan among those meeting in the house of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Shariff Aguak in the evening of Nov. 22, 2009, the eve of the massacre. De Lima pointed out that Agra did not encourage the NBI official to pursue against Mariano due to lack of evidence. “Well at the very least, an investigation should have been ordered. At the very least, there should have been effort to look into the incident deeper,” the she stressed.... MORE |
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