|
Friday, August 05, 2005
Jueteng witness recants, blames Lacson
MANILA -- A witness in the Senate investigation on alleged jueteng and payola payoffs accused three opposition senators of forcing him to link President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her family to the illegal numbers game.
In a press conference in Quezon City Thursday afternoon, Richard Garcia said Senators Panfilo Lacson, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada "coached" him and other jueteng witnesses on how they could connect the President's family to jueteng.
"Hindi ko kayang magsinungaling (I cannot take lying)," a weeping Garcia said.
Lacson and Pimentel were unfazed by Garcia's retraction. Lacson accused an Arroyo ally, Antipolo Representative Ronaldo Puno, of pressuring Garcia to retract.
Garcia, who implicated President Arroyo's husband Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo and son, Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, to jueteng operations during previous Senate hearings, was accompanied by Ricardo Santos, a defeated mayoral candidate in Pasay City, in the press briefing.
Mikey has gone on indefinite leave from Congress, after another witness at the Senate hearings accused him of taking jueteng payoffs. The first gentleman also went on self-exile to the US.
Press secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Garcia's statement confirmed the existence of a conspiracy to bring down the Arroyo Government.
With Garcia's retraction, Bunye said: "Now we know what this political noise is all about and who are orchestrating (it)."
Garcia, however, stood by his testimonies on jueteng operations, saying that although his statements were orchestrated, all of them were true.
Garcia said that prior to the Senate jueteng investigation, self-confessed jueteng operator Wilfredo "Boy" Mayor invited him to a meeting with Lacson's group at the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel in Pasay City. They were asked to put in writing what they knew about jueteng operations.
He identified one of Lacson's companions as Ben Barang, the senator's "compadre."
He said it was the senator's group that prepared affidavits for them but they were allowed to read the statement before they signed it.
Garcia said that in the beginning, he, Mayor and jueteng bag lady Sandra Cam agreed to the arrangement because their intent was to put a stop to illegal gambling and to corruption in government brought about by jueteng--but they realized later that they were just being used in politics.
He apologized to President Arroyo for linking her family to jueteng and to Lacson and Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz for recanting his statement.
The witness said he wants to return to his family.
At the Senate, Lacson said the person behind Garcia's decision to recant his statements against the Arroyo is none other than Congressman Puno, a close friend and a former classmate of First Gentleman Arroyo at the Ateneo.
Jinggoy, on the other hand, believes Malacañang is back to its old tactic of "buying" the witnesses and recalled the case of Udong Mahusay, the witness who implicated the first gentleman to the Jose Pidal case.
Mahusay was allegedly "kidnapped" by Malacañang to silence him. The next day, he recanted his statement.
For his part, Pimentel said: "Kaawaan sana siya ng Maykapal (God have mercy on Garcia.)"
Cruz, meanwhile, said he was expecting that one of his witnesses would back out "because of the pressure from the government."
The archbishop said Cam and Mayor informed him that Garcia would retract his statements on the alleged involvement of some members of the First Family in jueteng.
He remains confident that the Senate inquiry on jueteng will not be affected by the retraction. (Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex/AFP)
(August 5, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
