Lacson faces spying charges

Charges of illegal use of government funds and violation of the country's law on privacy are being prepared by the Philippine National Police (PNP) against its former chief, now Senator Panfilo Lacson following the seizure last week of electronic bugging devices believed to belong to an elite law enforcement group.

Current PNP Director General Leandro Mendoza, said Lacson and 20 of his former subordinates in the defunct Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Task Force (Paoctf) are facing criminal charges ranging from perjury to violation of the anti-wire tapping law.

Last week, policemen raided a flat in the eastern suburb of Pasig where they recovered an estimated P30m ($588,000) worth of electronic surveillance equipment allegedly used by the Paoctf in spying on political enemies of former president Joseph Estrada.

The Paoctf, which was formed by Estrada, had allegedly been behind in several illegal activities including the abduction and murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November last year.

Lacson had denied purchasing the advanced electronic eavesdropping equipment as PNP chief.

However, police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Nestorio Gualberto said they have recovered documents during the Pasig raid, including a contract between Armstrack, the supplier of the equipment and Lacson detailing the purchase by the PNP of the devices, that include a scanner which can record conversations from mobile phones and the numbers of the calling parties.

Last year, the Senate conducted an inquiry following reports then that the Paoctf is using bugging equipment to eavesdrop into sensitive phone conversations involving senators.

However, Lacson then denied the accusation and told senators that they do not have eavesdropping devices to carry out bugging operations.

Mendoza said Lacson could be charged of malversation for not reporting the purchase of the equipment and perjury for lying under oath before the senators if it can be proven that he sanctioned the acquisition of the bugging equipment.

Meanwhile, Police Senior Supt. Reynaldo Berroya, who led the raid which recovered the equipment said he will ask for a court order to authorise them to retrieve data from the confiscated bugging equipment.

"The data is mainly coded so we need time for our computer experts to decode the information contained in the equipment," he said noting that the court order is necessary to prevent tampering of the information that will be retrieved.

He said that they were trying to conduct a "computer autopsy" on the devices since most of the files have been erased.

If the files are recovered, it would bolster the charge of violating the anti-wire tapping law to be lodged against Lacson and his men.