Pubdate: Mon, 07 Feb 2005
Source: Philippine Star (Philippines)
Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2005
Contact:  http://www.philstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622
Author: Ana Marie Pamintuan
Cited: National Bureau of Invesitgation http://www.nbi.gov.ph/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

STAYING POWER

Sketches

Given the notoriety of former National Bureau of Investigation agent Martin 
Soriano, how did he last so long in the game?

Going by reports of his arrest last week, Soriano had not even bothered to 
change his modus operandi. He was notorious for kidnapping and planting 
drug evidence on his victims to force them to cough up ransom.

Police investigators are now looking into reports that Soriano allegedly 
victimized even a cop and at least one regular NBI agent, both of whom were 
eventually cleared of drug charges because of glaring loopholes in 
Soriano's accusations against them.

NBI insiders told me over the weekend that if police investigators really 
dig deep into Soriano's story, some prominent careers could be ruined. If 
he's truly singing like a canary before anti-kidnapping teams of the 
Philippine National Police (PNP), it would be interesting to know how far 
the cops would be willing to go to explain Soriano's staying power.

* * *

Camp Crame sources say that among the details uncovered by investigators so 
far is that Soriano was apprehended for a drug deal in the early 1990s by 
NBI agents led by Ray Esmeralda. The sources say that Fidel Ramos' 
son-in-law Alex Sembrano, who is said to be related by affinity to Soriano, 
interceded, allegedly working not only to clear Soriano but also to make 
him an intelligence agent of the bureau. Soriano's first boss was Mike 
Salvador.

The part about Sembrano, which has come out in newspapers, will probably be 
denied by the Ramos clan, but NBI insiders are telling the same story.

Soriano, who is neither a lawyer nor a certified public accountant - 
requirements for a regular NBI agent - managed to join the bureau by virtue 
of an executive order issued during the Aquino administration, which 
created positions in the NBI for "special investigators" and "intelligence 
agents" that circumvented the personnel requirement for a degree in law or 
accounting. The EO has not been rescinded. Today even the NBI chief, a 
former cop, is neither a lawyer nor a CPA.

PNP sources say Soriano quickly learned to cover his back, showering 
certain officials with expensive gifts as he embarked on a career of 
frame-ups and shakedowns. The names of two former NBI officials keep 
cropping up. Without the protection of those officials, Soriano's 
activities would not have flourished.

Cops are investigating reports that Soriano gifted the secretary of one of 
the officials with a stolen car. The secretary, unaware that it was a hot 
car, was reportedly furious at Soriano when the vehicle was traced and 
impounded by cops from Camp Crame.

* * *

Investigators are surprised that the name of a respected politician has 
cropped up. The politician, who has cultivated an image of integrity, 
reportedly used Soriano for a campaign to discredit a rival for a high 
elective post. Stories circulated that the rival had drawn up a list of the 
nation's top drug dealers but had excluded the most notorious in exchange 
for P6 million. I don't think this story was completely baseless, and it 
looks like the respected politician, apparently believing that it takes a 
crook to know one, simply used Soriano to unearth the truth. But I doubt if 
the politician would want his name linked with someone like Soriano.

In his heyday Soriano became so bold that he even allegedly planted shabu 
on a regular NBI agent and a cop. Both cases were dismissed. In the case of 
the cop Soriano reportedly told the prosecutor that the shabu was hidden in 
the engine of a car. After getting more details, the prosecutor decided 
that the shabu would not have survived the heat of the engine.

Soriano teamed up with a regular NBI agent who is reportedly still with the 
bureau, and a special investigator who is no longer there. Police probers 
say Soriano's group often handled cases involving business rivalries, which 
offered potentials for a shakedown. For a while Soriano was also known to 
be attached to the Presidential Security Group under Ramos.

 From drugs Soriano allegedly shifted to kidnapping and shakedowns. PNP 
investigators are looking into reports that Soriano maintained a safehouse 
in Quezon City for kidnap victims.

Camp Crame sources say among Soriano's alleged victims was a member of a 
prominent clan involved in real estate, whose brother and father were 
themselves victims of kidnapping. Cops are verifying if Soriano freed his 
victim after receiving a deed of sale for a lot signed by the victim's 
girlfriend.

The story of that real estate clan shows that Soriano's MO was hardly 
original. The brother and father were reportedly kidnapped on separate 
occasions by a notorious hoodlum whose principal "handler" or coddler was a 
ranking constabulary officer. When the hoodlum had outlived his usefulness, 
he was executed by his handler's men on Taft Avenue near a women's 
university in Manila.

The not-so-secret annals of Philippine law enforcement are filled with 
stories of such thugs who are used by regular lawmen for fund-raising 
criminal activities. This is a relatively small town and if lawmen truly 
did their job, criminal careers could be nipped in the bud. But those 
careers flourish because the crooks share their profits with legitimate law 
enforcers. When the crooks become too notorious, or when they can no longer 
be controlled by their coddlers, they are "salvaged" or executed.

* * *

By the time Joseph Estrada became president, Soriano had become too hot to 
handle. He was being implicated in kidnapping, carjacking, drug dealing and 
many other felonies. NBI insiders say Erap summoned the bureau chief at the 
time, Santiago Toledo, and asked why he seemed to be protecting Soriano.

Toledo, not Federico Opinion, finally fired Soriano. As recent events have 
shown, Soriano's ouster from the bureau did not end his activities.

Now we are told that he is implicating several police officers in his 
post-NBI operations. It would be more interesting to find out who covered 
for him during his days at the NBI. Soriano owed his staying power to those 
people, and he should give them proper credit.
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