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Monday, June 27, 2005
I also fell victim to tape case: mayor
* Mayor says radio station quoted him as praying to Satan for victory in 2004
* Emano also debunks Soriano claim that Garci manipulated votes in city to make him win
THE wiretapped conversation that allegedly occurred between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcilliano may possibly be manufactured in order to sow public animosity against the president.
Mayor Vicente Emano mentioned this angle as the debate whether President Arroyo should break her silence of the alleged conversation between her and an elections official showed no signs of respite.
Citing his own experience, Emano said the voices in the wiretapped conversation could have been manufactured elsewhere using the latest technology.
Emano claimed that a fake voice that sounded like his were taped then spliced and broadcast in local radio stations supposedly to demolish his candidacy.
The fake voice, he said, made it appear that he prayed to Satan for victory in the elections. The mayor also took exception to claims by former Vice-Mayor Antonio Soriano that Garcilliano could have manipulated the votes here in Cagayan de Oro to let him win convincingly in last year's polls.
"I only met Garcilliano back in 1995 when I was still governor of the province. I was then dislodged from my post a few years later after (then gubernatorial aspirant) Ruthie Guingona won the case before the Comelec," he said in a radio interview.
If it happened to him, the mayor said it could also happen to the president who is facing a legion of enemies from the defeated opposition and the leftist groups.
Emano also said he is confident that the snap elections being called for the Senator Aquilino Pimentel would not prosper.
The premise upon which Pimentel based his call, Emano emphasized, is "groundless." Pimental's call also included the resignation of Vice President Noli de Castro.
A staunch ally of Mrs. Arroyo, Emano told this paper earlier that the president may choose to remain silent until the question on the source of the tapes have been answered.
The local chief executive said it is "but foolish for the president to answer a charge admittedly derived from illegal materials."
"I am not saying that this should not be investigated. We should look into this but only in the proper venue," Emano said.
Emano said the opposition is resorting to "foul" moves instead of bringing the matters to the courts.
"They seem to be uninterested in finding the truth. They are resorting to a hate campaign," he said, adding, "they have a very political move."
While branding the personalities behind the tapes as "destabilizers," the mayor said the allegations against the president "should be settled by legal means."
Emano likewise appealed to the public for calm and sobriety while cautioning the anti-GMA protesters to secure corresponding rally permit from the city prior to any protests. (Danilo V. Adorador, III with reports from SC)
(June 27, 2005 issue)
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