Senate panel cites in contempt prime suspect in Camilon case for alleged lying

A Senate panel cited in contempt Police Major Allan de Castro, the prime suspect in the disappearance of beauty queen Catherine Camilon, for allegedly not telling the truth.

During the hearing of the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee, chaired by Senator Ronald dela Rosa, De Castro denied that he and Camilon were in a relationship.

“Nagsasabi po ako ng totoo,  wala kaming relasyon, wala po (I am telling the truth, we were not in a relationship),” he said before the committee.

This despite the statement from the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group that they have the affidavits of witnesses and photographs showing that De Castro and Camilon had a relationship.

Dela Rosa said he was not satisfied with the denial of De Castro.

“Nagsisinungaling ka sa harapan ko (Your are lying)… I am not satisfied with your explanation,” the senator said.

Senator Robin Padilla then made a motion to cite De Castro in contempt for lying before the committee, which Dela Rosa approved.

The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms then took De Castro in custody.

It was the first time De Castro attended the Senate hearing on the matter.

De Castro's driver and bodyguard, Jeffrey Magpantay, who was also present in the hearing, denied his involvement in the case. Witnesses said Magpantay was seen directing the people who lifted Camilon while she was being moved to a vehicle.

Witnesses also said the man has a tattoo on his leg, which Magpantay said he does have. 

However, he said he only drove De Castro to private events like weddings and christening ceremonies. 

“Wala po akong itetestigo laban kay major at wala po akong alam sa kaso,” Magpantay said. 

(I have nothing to testify against the major and I know nothing about the case.)

Meanwhile, a representative from Globe Telecom Inc. said it could not disclose the content of the text messages between De Castro and Camilon on the night she disappeared. 

The NBI said Globe only submitted call and text message logs despite obtaining a warrant to disclose computer data. 

“As disclosed by NBI, we complied with the warrant to disclose computer data. Ang binigay po namin ay lahat ng data na sa aming position. (What we provided is all the data in our position.) As far as the content of the text messages, we sympathized actually with the parents of the victim, but ang katotohanan, hindi po kami nag-iistore ng text messages (the truth is, we do not store text messages,)” said a Globe representative. 

Globe said there are financial, technical, and legal reasons why they cannot store text messages. 

“Pangalawang hearing ko na ito na ganoon ang explanation ng Globe. Yung explanation mo na financial, technical, tanggap ko ‘yun pero if you go far beyond that sabi mo legal, that I cannot accept,” dela Rosa said, noting that the court has already issued the company a warrant to disclose computer data, allowing them to violate the Data Privacy Act to help resolve the case. 

(This is my second hearing of Globe's explanation. Your explanation is financial and technical, I accept that, but if you go far beyond what you say is legal, that I cannot accept.)

“You are not legally impeded, kasi nga issued by the court e, competent court. ‘Yun ang palaging issue sa inyo e, ‘yung content hindi niyo maibigay,” the senator added. 

(You are not legally impeded, because it was issued by the court, competent court. That's always the issue with you, you can't provide content.)

Globe then revealed that they really do not have a record of the messages because they cannot keep them in the first place. 

It added that the way to get the content of the messages would be the cellular phones of the two individuals. 

However, the authorities do not have any of the said phones. 

Dela Rosa said the committee would invite other telecom companies to give their views on the subject. For its part, the National Privacy Commission said it would also determine if there is a possibility to restore the text messages. —AOL/RF, GMA Integrated News