Defense Committee to investigate Gadian

"...clear the names of those who are innocent asp, ngayon ang nangyayari pati yun mga lumalaban sa bundok nasasabit na sa usaping ito..this should not drag those who are continuing to provide service to this country." BIAZON

The senior reporter of the Manila Times, Efren L. Danao reported that Biazon said the Gadian case has two aspects—the threat on her life and the alleged embezzlement of Balikatan funds by some military officers. He emphasized that the court order was focused on the threat on her life. “It has not established from which direction the threat is coming, and based on the ruling, it seems that is does not come from the AFP as proven by the directive of the court which mandated no less than Sec. Teodoro to provide the protection for Nancy Gadian,” he said.

(Ed Cabanlig with the US Marine troops in Balikatan excercise)

Biazon had earlier volunteered to provide protection to Gadian after learning of her fears about going public with her expose. He said that with the court order for Teodoro to secure her, he would no longer pursue that offer. “I am confident that Secretary Teodoro can put together a security measure to ensure the protection of Nancy,” he said.

But even after being placed under Teodoro’s custody, Gadian and her supporters remained concerned about the former Navy officer’s safety. They would prefer her to remain with her current guardian of religious leaders. “While Gadian has good reasons to be truly elated with the CA decision, we at the Center for International Law who acted as her lawyers for the Petitioner, her sister Nedina Diamante-Gadian, still have reasons to be very concerned,” Roque stated in a statement.

The lawyer said Teodoro showed “bias” in his statement on May 23, when he asked the court to review the petition of Gadian as it could affect the chain of command and the implementation of the disciplinary system in the military. Another reason for concern was about the apparent security risk posed by military personnel protecting a whistleblower in scandal involving men in uniform. Teodoro earlier assured that the Defense department would provide security to Gadian as ordered by the court.

Sen. Pia Cayetano said the Senate must now get the testimony of Gadian on the alleged embezzlement of Balikatan funds after she secured the writ of amparo. “With the granting of the amparo petition, Lt. Gadian will now be more at liberty to testify and provide further details to support her accusation that her superiors had misused the funds intended for the 2007 Balikatan war games,” the senator said. She delivered a privileged speech on May 26 calling on the Senate to take custody Gadian and to undertake a legislative probe on the Balikatan funds mess. The inquiry has been referred to the Senate blue-ribbon committee with the Senate Committee on National Defense as secondary committee.