Jinggoy, ex-PDEA agent Morales in heated exchange over ‘PDEA leaks’

Senator Jinggoy Estrada and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) intelligence officer Jonathan Morales on Monday had a heated verbal exchange during a Senate investigation into the supposed leaked confidential documents linking President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to illegal drugs.

During the hearing of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, Estrada questioned the credibility of Morales, who earlier said that he signed the confidential documents. The senator, who sits as panel vice-chair, said there is a lack of evidence to prove the former PDEA agent’s accusations.

Morales had presented CCTV footage showing him together with Department of Justice investigation agent Romeo Enriquez. In the video, Morales said Enriquez was conversing with former National Police Commission (Napolcom) agent Eric Santiago, who was supposedly trying to persuade him not to testify before the Senate panel.

Several senators, including panel chair Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, urged Morales to submit the original copy of the CCTV footage.

“Mr. Chair, how can we be sure if the video that is going to be presented before the committee is totally unedited, knowing this person who has a lot of criminal records,” Estrada said.

This triggered Morales, who pointed out that he was not convicted unlike Estrada.

“Your Honor, parang hindi naman po maganda ‘yung sinasabi ni Senador Jinggoy Estrada patungkol sa akin. Para namang ako talaga ang hinuhusgahan. Eh ako ay may kaso pa lang at hindi pa napapatunayan sa hukuman. Hindi kagaya ang ating butihing senador na na-convict na po,” he said. 

(Your Honor, it seems that what Senator Jinggoy Estrada is saying about me is not good. It's like I'm the one being judged. I have a case but it’s not yet proven in court, unlike our good senator who has already been convicted.)

Estrada was earlier convicted by the Sandiganbayan for bribery in connection with the pork barrel scam. He was, however, acquitted of plunder charges in relation to the same issue.

In response, the lawmaker told Morales not to meddle with his case.

“Alam mo, Mr. Morales, ‘wag mong pinakikialaman ang kaso ko. Problema ko ‘yun. ‘Yung kaso mo ang ayusin mo,” Estrada said.

(Mr. Morales, stop meddling with my case. That's my problem. It's your own case that you need to settle.)

Dela Rosa tried to defuse the situation, calling on Morales to respect the committee and Estrada as the panel vice chairman.

“Kung sinasabi mo na nasaktan ka dahil ikaw, akusado ka palang, siya konbiktado na tapos pinapalabas na masama ka, well that's your opinion. Please, because insulting ‘yan on the part of this committee,” dela Rosa said.

(If you’re saying you were hurt because you’re only accused, but a convicted person tries to make you seem bad, well that's your opinion.)

PDEA earlier insisted that the supposed pre-operation report and authority to operate which Morales claimed to have processed himself are non-existent.

The PDEA pre-operation report dated March 11, 2012 indicated that "a group of showbiz and politically affluent personalities are frequently using illegal drugs" inside a condominium in Makati City.

It claimed that Marcos and actress Maricel Soriano were linked to illegal drugs.

During the same hearing, Estrada presented a “surprise witness,” former PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago, who also questioned Morales’ accusations. Santiago was the head of PDEA from 2006 to 2010, and had experienced working with Morales.

“Alam mo, ‘wag ka magagalit Jonathan, ang tawag ng mga kaibigan namin sayo ay ‘STL.’ ‘Wag mong kakalimutan ang STL, kilala ka nila personally. Ano ang STL, ang alam ko small town lottery, [pero] professional storytelling liar,” Santiago said.

(Don't be angry Jonathan, but our friends call you 'STL.' They know you personally. It means you’re a professional storytelling liar.)

Even PDEA Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo earlier said Morales' allegations were "fabricated" and "have no basis.” Lazo said the Senate panel could not expect genuine testimonies from the former because he perjured his application to the agency by not disclosing that he was dismissed from the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Lazo also mentioned Morales' dismissal from PDEA for dishonesty and grave misconduct, as well as the robbery extortion case filed against the latter, among others.

Morales refuted these and said the cases filed against him were dismissed and he was already exonerated from accountability. On his dismissal from the PNP, Morales said he was able to get clearance from the headquarters, which allowed him to eventually file an application to PDEA and comply with the job requirements.

No law vs. classified info

Meanwhile, Senator Francis Tolentino also raised concerns about the absence of the law that would penalize the leaking of classified government information or documents to the public.

“Pinag-aralan ko po, lumalabas na wala pala tayong batas tungkol dito [I looked at this and found out that we don't have an existing law about this]. We only have a circular. We only have a circular, circa 1964, and the other one is 1968, and the last one was 2007,” he said.

Tolentino said he filed Senate Bill 2667, also known as the proposed “National Security Information Clearance Act,” prior to the start of the hearing, in a bid to address the handling, storage, distribution, transmittal and accounting of classified documents.

According to Tolentino, there are only administrative sanctions available if the leaking of classified information was done by a government personnel, but it does not include civilians.—RF, GMA Integrated News