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Sunday, September 14, 2003
Palace wants Jose Pidal probe continued; Serge dared to name names
By She Caguimbal-Torres
WITH its allies controlling the probe, Malacaņang backtracked on its position to stop the Senate investigation on First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo for the Jose Pidal accounts.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, who said last week that the Senate probe is distracting the public, said Saturday that the Palace sees no reason to stop the probe.
"Sila ay naimbita naman at nag-attend sila riyan kaya wala tayong nakikitang dahilan para ang anumang proceedings dito sa Senado ay itigil. Bukod diyan ay nirerespeto ng panggulo ang Senado bilang isang independent body," Bunye said on radio.
On the other hand, Bunye also backtracked on his claim last Friday branding as inaccurate a survey by Roper-ASW firm indicating many Filipinos believe the first gentleman is Pidal.
"Wala tayong sinasabing ganyan. Alam mo, ang stand ng panggulo sa survey ay hindi ito ang end-all and be-all ng decision making ng panggulo, bagama't kinokonsulta niya at tinitingnan niya ang resulta but yung final decision is not driven by any particular survey," he said.
He also said he is not aware of the results of an in-house Palace survey on the matter, saying the one conducting it gives the results directly to Mrs. Arroyo.
So far, he said the latest in-house survey he is aware of involved reactions to the July 27 Makati City mutiny.
Three committees - the blue ribbon, banks, financial institutions and constitutional amendments - are now involved in the investigation.
The ethics committee chaired by Sen. Francis Pangilinan will soon be investigating Sen. Panfilo Lacson on allegations of misrepresenting facts as claimed by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The camps of Mr. Arroyo and Vicky Toh are also readying a similar complaint to the Senate against Lacson.
Bunye reiterated the pro-Malacaņang senators' challenge for Lacson to produce more convincing evidence, and not just photocopies.
"Importante ay ipakita niya talaga ang tunay na at matibay na pinahahawakan niyang ebidensya," he said.
He also said Mrs. Arroyo does not see any need to call a meeting of the ruling Lakas party on the matter.
Earlier, Malacaņang dismissed as inaccurate the survey conducted by New York-based Roper ASW Asia Pacific last week.
The results showed that more than a third of Metro Manila residents believe that the first gentleman is the real Jose Pidal, an alias that opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson claims the presidential husband used to deposit in banks close to P300 million.
The poll also showed the great majority saying the issue will destroy Mrs. Arroyo's electoral chances.
Based on the Roper ASW survey, 36 percent of the 300 consumer-respondents believe Lacson's allegations against Mr. Arroyo have basis.
Only 24 percent cast doubts on the presidential couple's alleged involvement in money laundering their excess campaign funds last 1998, while 40 percent still doubt whether Mr. Arroyo indeed owned the Jose Pidal account.
The survey also showed that 76 percent of the respondents believe the controversy swirling around Mrs. Arroyo would negatively hurt her chances of winning in next year's election in case she pursues her political ambition next year.
The respondents said Mrs. Arroyo's leadership got worse. More of them lost their trust in the Arroyo administration.
Meanwhile, Malacaņang dared Sen. Sergio Osmeņa III to name names in his claim that Palace emissaries are pressuring senators to stop the Jose Pidal investigation.
A Palace statement quoted presidential legislative liaison office chief Gabriel Claudio said he was not one of those who are allegedly doing the pressuring.
"Sen. Sergio Osmeņa must be fair and forthright if he claims officials from Malacaņang called him to seek the termination of the Senate hearings on the Pidal case. He should name them," he said.
He said he should have been the "logical person" to get in touch with senators on matters related to legislation. "But the fact is I never called him," he said.
Claudio said he last talked with Osmeņa in the afternoon after Ignacio Arroyo testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
According to him, it was the senator who called him up and reminded him to facilitate the constitution of a House bicameral panel for a farmland-as-collateral bill.
"That was all we talked about and the conversation was very brief. So who are the Palace officials he is referring to?" he said.
He said the Palace position remains that "it does not and will not interfere."
(September 14, 2003 issue)
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