“Let’s put it this way. Ayaw naman namin matalo na parang i-release namin because meron siyang finile para maging moot and academic. Sabi ko nga, nobody wants to lose by default. So mas mainam na lang na ilaban sa SC. He asked for it, then we’ll give it to him.”

Quotes from the interview: 

On other lawyers whose names appeared in the Facebook chat:
“Naroon ang iba. Tinanong din sila at hindi pa naman authenticated ang chat messages. Kaya tinanong ko kanina kung authenticated na. But once ma-authenticate yan at si Gen. Coronel made it clear it will form part of their evidence to be submitted to the DOJ and eventually sa court.”

On the possible liability of UST:
“If at all, negligence. Klaro naman na negligence sila dahil ang deadline ng pag-submit ng mga activities June 30 pero July 12 bakit pinayagan pa rin nila?”

On Solano’s ‘wrong move’:
“I was talking to the father and the father used to be with the PC-INP where I used to belong. Sabi niya bakit nagkaganoon na parang ngayon ma-charge ang anak ko? Sabi ko kasalanan din ng anak mo. Because at the outset siya ang pinaka-qualified sana na maging state witness. After all pinabayaan siya ng brods niya, he was left on his own. Natutulog sa waiting shed. But then parang pumihit ang kanyang testimony and nawala ang sympathy ng magulang ni Atio sa kanya. Noong una nga ang attitude namin sa kanya biktima rin siya. After all he was not present but he could be part sa complicity.”

On Arvin Balag’s staying under detention at the Senate:
“Let’s put it this way. Ayaw naman namin matalo na parang i-release namin because meron siyang finile para maging moot and academic. Sabi ko nga, nobody wants to lose by default. So mas mainam na lang na ilaban sa SC. He asked for it, then we’ll give it to him.”
“Depende sa kanya. Kung iuurong niya, wala nang kaso, walang pressure sa amin on what to do. At saka sa disposition niya. Pero as long as there’s a pending case sa SC, it’s not good for us to render the case moot and academic by releasing him.”

*****