Thursday, August 23, 2007 Senate begins probe on wiretapping next week
* Palace to invoke anew gag order in inquiry
SENATE President Manuel Villar on Wednesday said the Committee of the Whole, where he will be the presiding officer, will start its hearings on the "Hello Garci" wiretapping controversy next week after all the senators have been informed of the schedule of hearings.
Villar also said resource persons will be sent out within the week.
Former intelligence agent Vidal Doble earlier said in a videotaped testimony confirmed that he wiretapped President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and recorded her conversations with several government officials and with former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano under an operation dubbed as Project Lighthouse.
According to Doble, Project Lighthouse was set up in 2005 to wiretap not only Arroyo but also anti-administration personalities, including the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.
Doble's videotape was presented by Senator Panfilo Lacson in a privilege speech he delivered on Tuesday. As a result, the Senate decided to reopen the investigation on the issue.
Villar said the investigation will be prioritized but without prejudice to bills pending for deliberation and approval.
"We intend to schedule the hearings of the Committee of the Whole in such a way that will still allow the holding of public hearings on pending bills. We will continue to have plenary sessions and act on pending measures as usual in the afternoon," Villar said.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said the military may invoke Executive Order (EO) 464 in refusing to attend the impending Senate reinvestigation of the case since the constitutionality of the edict has been sustained by the Supreme Court (SC).
"I think the military should refuse, unless the commander will allow it. The chain of command must be followed. Why are we going back to this? It's been over-investigated already," he said
Senator Francis Escudero said the "Hello Garci" tape is now admissible as evidence in court with the resurfacing and admittance of Doble about Project Lighthouse.
Escudero said with Doble emerging as witness to the operation, the legal mill could now start grinding against those who were involved in election cheating in the 2004 elections. "When the Hello Garci was investigated shortly after the scandal broke out, it was deemed hearsay by the courts for the lack of witness thereof. But now that Doble has owned up as among the wiretappers, we now have a witness to support the substance of the infamous tape," he added.
He went on to say that the development is a vindication for the Poe who had always believed he was cheated in the 2004 elections."
At the House of Representatives, Pro-administration Representative Exequiel Javier of Antique questioned Lacson's motive for reviving the "Hello Garci" wiretapping scandal saying it is merely meant to boost his presidential ambition.
Javier, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, said there is no other good reason for Lacson to pursue the reopening of the investigation on the matter other than for political gain.
Baguio City Representative Mauricio Domogan, for his part, cautioned the opposition and other anti-Arroyo forces against lodging another impeachment complaint merely on the basis of Doble's recorded statement.
Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran said despite frequent assertions of the Arroyo administration that the "Hello, Garci" scandal was all water under the bridge, it was evident that as long as no genuine resolution and punishment is meted out against those directly involved in it, the issue will never be over.
The United Opposition (UNO) asked other agents of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) to come out in the open and reveal what they know about the controversial recordings.
UNO chairman and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said Doble's new testimony could well be the last key in resolving the controversy surrounding the wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and Garciliano.
Bishop Teodoro Bacani lauded Doble's decision to finally tell the truth on the wiretapping issue.
Bacani also said he was aware that Doble was not telling the truth when he sought refuge at San Carlos Seminary in Guadalupe, Makati City after coming out and testifying in Congress at the height of the "Hello Garci" controversy in 2005.
Meanwhile, La Union Representative Thomas Dumpit, former head of the intelligence section of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), said former President Joseph Estrada was wiretapped allegedly by the Isafp then under Brigadier General Jose Calimlim.
In a weekly Ayes and Nays News Forum in Quezon City, Dumpit, who also headed the PSG training school in Malacañang in the past, revealed the supposed "grandmother" of all tapes which led to the downfall of the Estrada administration through Edsa People Power Revolt II in January 2001.
Dumpit, a member of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), said he learned of the wiretapping during the third quarter of 2000 and immediately told the former President about the threat to his leadership.
However, the congressman said Estrada belittled his warning and instead believed Calimlim's claim that the wiretapping was the handiwork of some "junior officers."
Dumpit would not point to Calimlim as the brains behind the wiretapping of Estrada but said it was the handiwork of a high-ranking general who was eyeing the chief of staff post. (CPB/AH/MSN/Sunnex)
