Filipino Arrested for ESPIONAGE

[darkwing]

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paklaro lang gyud unsa ka maayo ang Pinoy (ipakita mo)

[Spec-V]

wow....they're making this a really big deal in the U.S. Its not like this guy North Korean or any other countr referred by Bush as an axis of evil.

Here's what Richard Clarke says:
"What it means is that there is a hole in White House security," Richard Clarke, a former White House adviser who is now an ABC News consultant. "There are two kinds of people at the White House: Those that have been very well-vetted and those that have been extremely well-vetted and have access to the top secret computer network. This man had access to the top secret computer network."

source www.abcnews.com

There are Protocols that are needed to be followed & w/ this hoopla he did; he'll be in the slammers! What he had is a wet dream
dreams job for a Federal employee. I would love to trade jobs w/ this guy any day. With that kind of Responsiblity, in which he had a High pay grade
& probably he owns a huge & beautiful house on the Potomac. The question is - what drove him to do this?? Was there a Bribe involved that is
20 times greater than his pay grade? With the "Patriot Act" in which the government can put tabs on you & with the Security clearance he had; Why did he allow his cohort to used a public email service?!? he should have known better! Was he dumb? or was he just too confident? or did he do this on purpose to get caught coz the deal went sour? Or was it a sudden surge of guilty conscience?

Either way...as the "U.S. governement" sayz - The crime happens here & it stays here. The U.S. will stay neutral on this issue. And no matter
what the Philippine government request for these names involved, They wont give any info @ all coz if they do...this will create another problem in the Philippines.

[SPRINGFIELD_XD_40]

@ BEETLEBUM ... we are not talking about WORLD DOMINATION here or TERRORISM but a countries sake .

[Beetlebum]

I haven't really followed the story and I just feel that the media is putting a lot coverage into this because he's a filipino american. This story was only reported yesterday in the U.S. media and it's proabably the headline iin every newspaper in the U.S.This seems more like internal problem of accessing classified documents in the U.S. government than a threat to their national security(like terrorism). Just my 2 cents. I wonder how the filipino americans feel over there.

@springfield_xd_40 what did u mean by a countries sake?

[lindsay]

this is a big story here, i saw it in almost all news network and i just sawÂ* another story about it a few minutes ago on ABC news.Â* This guy is such in big trouble.Â* HeÂ* wasn't just downloading classified info about the PH but also on another country but the FBi won'tÂ* disclose what country it is.Â* The news also confirmed that heÂ* is working for Estrada and has been sending estrada classifiedÂ* information sinceÂ* Estrada's first visitÂ* in the White HouseÂ* and use the infos to destabilized the Arroyo administration.Â* thisÂ* Aragoncillo guy is also half a million dollar in debt here.Â* So what that tells you?Â* Â*anyway he is under suicide watch in jail kono.Â* I just wonder ifÂ* Estrada and company can ever get away with this.Â*

too bad he got caught.Â* too cgoro sila that they can easily penetrate the FBI files without being caught in the long run. hopefully this won'tÂ* reflect on honest filipinos working in the government here.

[Spec-V]

this Aragoncillo guy is also half a million dollar in debt here. So what that tells you?

Uyyyy...na Putos diay ni siya sa UTANG! Bangtod ra na Tintal dyud.

[tolstoi]

so this document is all about the destabilization plot against Arroyo administration..and i'm very sure that ERAP is once again the brain of this plot.....naa sad pud diay brain gamai dah..lol

Disclosures on Aragoncillo’s spying, the complicity of fellow Filipino Michael Ray Aquino and a growing partnership between Filipino Americans and Filipino politicians in Manila unhappy with the Arroyo administration confirmed speculations that anti-Arroyo forces in the two countries wanted to destabilize the Manila government and unseat the President.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=18376

[SPRINGFIELD_XD_40]

I haven't really followed the story and I just feel that the media is putting a lot coverage into this because he's a filipino american. This story was only reported yesterday in the U.S. media and it's proabably the headline iin every newspaper in the U.S.This seems more like internal problem of accessing classified documents in the U.S. government than a threat to their national security(like terrorism). Just my 2 cents. I wonder how the filipino americans feel over there.

Â* Â*The MEDIA is putting a lot of coverage because what Aragoncillo did was accessing the system similar to the FBI agent Robert Hannsen who was convicted of espionage for spying for Russia for 15 years . The FBI thought the problem was fixed but Aragoncillo just did what Hannsen did years before that .... VULNERABILITY and nothing PHILIPPINES specific .

Â* Â*

@springfield_xd_40 what did u mean by a countries sake?

Â*What I meant and di na lang nako i edit .... spelling wise or maybe na misunderstood niom " COUNTRIES SAKE " is you thought na big deal kaau sa US ang nahitabo but its not , they are worried of how vulnerable they are pero kita mga Pilipino ga worry gyud because atong nasod ang nasugal ana ..... the plot by Aragoncillo was a move to help destablized the Philippine govt and change the leader or in short i OUST . Sa santong paspasan kung di makuha sa dasalan .

Do you think the US will convict Aragoncillo for political matters and destabilization of the Philippine govt ? No , he will go to prison for espionage and abuse of security access .

[tolstoi]

there is now a clear link between Estrada and Aragoncillo..question is how much bribe money did Estrada gave to Aragoncillo for the espionage job?..and where did he get this money?..murag ignorante ko ani dah..lol

.................................................. .................................................. ..

Defensor: Estrada introduced me to Aragoncillo

Environment Secretary Michael Defensor on Tuesday admitted he has met Leandro Aragoncillo, a former US Marine officer facing espionage charges in New Jersey, through former president Joseph Estrada.

Defensor said Estrada introduced him to Aragoncillo while the jailed president was still detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City prior to his transfer to his estate in Tanay, Rizal.

"Na-meet ko iyan, ipinakilala ni presidente Estrada nang kami ay mag-usap sa Veterans (I've alreat met him. President Estrada introduced him when we talked at Veterans)," Defensor admitted.

He denied meeting with Aragoncillo privately, saying that he was able to talk to Aragoncillo twice, each meeting lasting four to five hours, along with Estrada at the hospital.

"In fact, President Estrada called him major, Major Aragoncillo," he said.

Defensor said he knew Aragoncillo to be an aide of US Vice President Dick Cheney, and not an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

He said he thought Aragoncillo was just a Filipino "balikbayan" who just wanted to see former President Estrada.

Aragoncillo has been charged in New Jersey with passing classified information damaging to Filipino officials.

Aragoncillo and Michael Ray Aquino, a former aide of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, were said to have provided a number of Filipino politicians timely and confidential information damaging to President Arroyo filched from the White House, the State Department and other sensitive US agencies.

Defensor said during one of his visits to Estrada in Tanay, the former president allegedly showed him documents containing "analysis" of the Philippine situation.

"May binanggit si Pangulong Estrada siguro mga dalawang linggo, tatlong linggo na ang nakakaraan. May mga papeles siyang pinakita sa akin nung nasa Tanay na siya, tungkol dito sa mga report na binabanggit (President Estrada mentioned something about two to three weeks ago. He showed me some papers when he was already in Tanay about these reports)," Defensor said.

The documents he saw contained analysis about a Filipino general, and President Arroyo. He failed to identify the military official.

He said at that time he wasn't aware of the connection between the documents Estrada showed him and Aragoncillo.

Defensor said he wouldn't consider the information in the documents as classified but said he would understand why the US government would want this information.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Monday revealed that a congressman allied with President Arroyo had tried to talk to Aragoncillo in the United States, but the meeting did not push through because Aragoncillo was arrested.

"My source told me that a congressman who accompanied Mrs. Arroyo in her recent trip to the United Nations was supposed to meet with Aragoncillo on a Monday after the speech of the President [before the UN Security Council], but nagkataon na nung Saturday ay inaresto na si Aragoncillo kaya hindi natuloy ang kanilang meeting (but it so happened that Aragoncillo had been arrested that Saturday so the meeting didn't push through)," Pimentel told reporters.

He refused to name his source, because his informant is "scared."

Asked if his source is a congressman, Pimentel said "yes." In fact, he said, the source formerly belonged to the administration.

Pimentel said his informant was also in New York at that time and was privy to the meeting that failed.

"He also told me that this congressman is known as one of President Arroyo’s ‘palakpak (rah-rah) boys,’" Pimentel said.

He added: "We want to find out and get to the bottom of this truth."

The scheduled meeting between the congressman and Aragoncillo happened even before the espionage case involving Aragoncillo broke out in the media, Pimentel said.

"This happened before the media got hold of the news that Aragoncillo and Michael Ray [Aquino] were charged with espionage. That means, they have contact with Aragoncillo. In other words, they could be renewing acquaintances," he said.

The US Department of Justice could charge more Filipino politicians suspected of conspiring with Aragoncillo in stealing confidential documents, the National Bureau of Investigation said Monday.

Lawyer Ricardo Diaz, chief of the Interpol desk at the NBI, said the US justice department probers have leads linking more politicians in the Philippines to Aragoncillo

"They will seriously prosecute not only Aragoncillo but also those in conspiracy with him. Charges will be filed against officials in the Philippines," Diaz said in an interview over ANC.

Initially Diaz said the FBI is looking into the possibility that two former Philippine officials and a high-level government official have conspired with Aragoncillo.

Diaz said the US justice department believes that aside from the three, Aragoncillo had more conspirators in the country.

"They said they are widening their investigation because there could be more Philippine politicians that allegedly received confidential information," Diaz said.

Diaz said the FBI agents are now focusing on those who hired Aragoncillo to steal classified US documents.

"They already have evidence that they [the politicians] received information [through] –[e-mail] accounts [of Aragoncillo]," said Diaz.

In the interview, Diaz said US authorities may not only investigate the bank accounts of Aragoncillo and Aquino in the US but they can also look into some Philippine bank accounts.

This can be done through the mutual legal assistance agreement between the Philippines and the United States, Diaz said.

"They (US probers) are now focusing if there was a money trail. They are looking for the source of funds," Diaz added.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=18766

[nvr_mind]

i never thought we could afford to send spies to the US. must be worth millions!