NEW YORK -- A former US Marine who worked at the White House on Thursday admitted passing secrets to the Philippines in an attempt to help overthrow the government there.
Leandro Aragoncillo, 47, admitted he met co-conspirators at Malacanang, the Philippine presidential palace, in January 2001, the US Justice Department said.

Detained former Philippine president Joseph Estrada last week denied reported allegations by US prosecutors that he was part of a conspiracy to steal classified US documents.

Press reports have said US authorities believe the case was part of a plot to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who came to power in a military-backed, bloodless revolt in 2001 that ended Estrada's six-year term.

Aragoncillo, who was born in the Philippines, pleaded guilty to four counts in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey.

One charged him with conspiracy to transmit national defense information, the second with transmitting national defense information.

The third charge was unlawful retention of national defense information and the fourth unlawful use of a government computer.

He faces a maximum punishment of life imprisonment on the first two counts. He would face the death penalty if it was found the information he gave led to the death of an intelligence source. The department said that was "not present" in Aragoncillo's case.

For the other two charges there is a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

A Justice Department statement said Aragoncillo got the secrets while working in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney and his predecessor Al Gore.

He was an FBI intelligence analyst at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey when arrested on September 10, 2005. He admitted that his espionage activity continued during his time as an FBI analyst, the statement said.

It said the information was handed on to "senior political and government officials" in the Philippines.

"Aragoncillo admitted that he regularly transferred to his Philippine contacts national security documents classified as 'Secret,' and that the information could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation," the statement said.

The information, leaked between October 2000 and February 2002, included information marked "Top Secret" that related to terrorist threats to US interests in the Philippines, the statement said.

US Attorney Christopher Christie of New Jersey district said: "His betrayal is profound and a disservice to his country."

Also arrested last September was Michael Ray Aquino, a former Philippines police official, who was among those Aragoncillo is alleged to have passed classified information on to. Aquino is in federal custody, having been charged in October.

The statement did not name the main conspirators in the Philippines, but said they were "a senior member of the executive branch" from June 1998 through January 2001; a senator who had served since June 2001 and was formerly the head of the Philippines National Police; a member of the Philippines House of Representatives between 1998 and 2001 and again in 2004; another representative who served in the chamber from 1992-2001 and again in 2004; and a mayor of a city near Manila.

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index....story_id=74758

------------

... kung si ate glo nandaya nung election.... ito naman nagnakaw ng info para
mapatalsik ang nagnakaw ng boto... sino ang mas kakatitigan nyo sa kanila??..it's a double dillemna i guess...