Prosecutors to determine ex-officials' liability in massacre witness bribe try

(Update 4:02 p.m.) Prosecutors that will look into an alleged bribery attempt on a Maguindanao massacre witness will determine whether Alberto Agra and Nestor Mantaring, former heads of the Justice Department and National Bureau of Investigation respectively, should be held liable for supposedly failing to act on the matter swiftly. Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima made this announcement on Thursday, a day after NBI counter-terrorism unit head Ricardo Diaz claimed that a certain retired Air Force colonel Juanito Mariano asked for access to witness Kenny Dalandag last month. Mariano is allegedly an emissary of the Ampatuan clan while Dalandag, who is under the NBI's custody, had testified that former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan was among the plotters of the November 23 carnage in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. "Bahala na ang handling prosecutors diyan," said De Lima. (The prosecutors handling that case will take care of determining Agra and Mantaring's culpability.) If the incident occurred during her tenure, De Lima said she would have immediately ordered a probe. "Let me put it this way. Kung sa akin iyan, pinakasuhan ko iyan. You have to ask him [Agra] kung bakit niya ginawa iyon. I cannot speak for the former secretary. Kung ako iyon, ganoon ang gagawin ko," said the Justice chief. (If the incident happened while I was already Justice secretary, I would ask Diaz to file a case immediately. You have to ask Agra why he did not ask Diaz to do that. I cannot speak for the former secretary, but if I were him, I will ask for a case to be filed.) P10-M bribe try On Wednesday, Diaz went to the DOJ to file his affidavit attesting that Mariano had asked for his help to reach Dalandag. “There was an attempt to bribe Kenny Dalandag in the amount of P10 million that was coursed through me... I flatly denied his request," Diaz told reporters, adding the incident took place last June 10. He added he reported the incident to Agra, who said Diaz needed to back up his allegations against Mariano by giving solid evidence first. According to De Lima, Mariano also came from Mantaring's office and was accompanied by two NBI agents during the incident. But in a text message, Mantaring denied having any knowledge about Mariano's supposed move to bribe Dalandag. "I did not know about that and I was not informed by Attorney Diaz about it," said Mantaring. In a related development, newly installed NBI director Magtanggol Gatdula on Thursday said he had ordered the bureau's Internal Affairs division to look into the incident. 'More complex' and 'successful' bribe attempts Also on Thursday, De Lima hinted that the other bribe attempt she divulged last Tuesday was "more complex" than Diaz's claim against Mariano. She will soon make the details public. [See: DOJ chief tags ampatuan emissaries in bribe on 2 witnesses] "Mas complex yung insidente na iyon. That is why ingat kami na walang magbigay ng hint as to who are involved," she said. (That incident is more complex. That is why we're careful in not giving any hints as to who are involved.) While she did not name anyone, the Justice chief also said other bribery attempts could have been successful because other witnesses have recanted their testimonies in the past. "Mayroong nag-recant, if you'll do a little research, may nag-recant. That means that [bribery attempt] was successful. It indicates na mukhang naging successful ang attempt," she said. (Someone had recanted, if you'll do a little research. That means that bribery attempt was successful. It indicates that the bribery attempt seemed to be successful.) Last June, witnesses Anwar Masukat and Moghira Hadja Angguial revoked their testimonies implicating the Ampatuans as suspects in the massacre. — RJAB Jr./LBG, GMANews.TV