DOJ orders cops to release five Erap supporters
By Joel San Juan
Reporter

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday ordered the National Police to immediately release the five supporters of former President Joseph Estrada who were earlier charged with rebellion for their alleged involvement in destabilization activities against the administration, including in the supposed plot to assassinate Cabinet officials.
       Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said the five accused—Virgilio Eustaquio, chairman of the Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ), Jim Cabauatan, Ruben Dionisio, Dennis Evona, and Jose Curameng—should be given a chance to answer the charges against them in a preliminary investigation.
       “In the interest of justice, the respondents are hereby ordered to undergo regular preliminary investigation to enable them to submit their respective counteraffidavits so as to answer the very serious allegations against them.,” Velasco, who heads the DOJ’s Task Force Rebellion, said.
       He stressed however that the order has nothing to do with the merits of the case. He said the five Estrada supporters should be set free for them to be able to get a lawyer who would represent them during the preliminary investigation scheduled on June 6.
       Velasco noted that the five accused were not given a chance to seek legal assistance since they were arrested on Monday.
       “The panel decided in the interest of justice to let the five suspects to undergo preliminary investigation to allow them to answer very serious allegations hurled against them. We have not decided on the merits of the case.”
       Velasco earlier said the five Estrada supporters were arrested while allegedly in the act of plotting the assassination of the President, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.
       Authorities reportedly seized high-powered guns and ammunition from the accused. Velasco said the justice secretary was on top of the group’s list of officials to be assassinated.
       “The group have already cased [Justice] Secretary Gonzales. In their plan, they will not kill him on Taft Avenue and Padre Faura Street in Manila because of the area’s proximity to the National Bureau of Investigation and Western Police District headquarters. He will be ambushed somewhere else,” Velasco said, in an interview.