Guingona: Probe ‘bugging’

Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. charged yesterday that his telephone lines in the chamber are bugged.

Guingona said a private technical group that he hired to determine whether his telephone lines were indeed being bugged confirmed the wiretap last August.

"I had suspected that my lines were bugged and the professionals with expertise in bugging confirmed this after examining my office," he said at a press conference.

He added that the technical men also told him that certain devices had been installed in the Senate, which could enable the perpetrators to eavesdrop on and record conversations taking place anywhere in the Senate.

Guingona refused to identify the group he hired, saying it is still doing some investigation for him.

"But they said they are ready to stand by their findings," Guingona stressed.

He filed yesterday a Senate resolution calling on the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the committee on justice and human rights to investigate the findings on the installation of bugging devices in Senate premises.

"I don’t know who are the perpetrators – they will be unmasked during the Senate investigation," Guingona said.

Sen. Renato Cayetano, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, expressed dismay over the bugging report.

He vowed to act expeditiously on Guingona’s resolution, saying the allegation of bugging is a matter of great significance to the Senate as an institution.

"No bugging could be done without the cooperation of somebody in the Senate," Cayetano said, as he called on Senate President Franklin Drilon to rectify the matter.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, described the bugging report as an attack on democratic institutions.

"Bugging is done to secure information, and information is power. This is not only illegal – it poses danger to our democratic institutions," he said.

Meanwhile, Drilon said he would look into Guingona’s allegations.

"We condemn the bugging of any senator, but the presumption of bugging still has to be proven," he said.

He revealed that he has asked the Philippine National Police to look into the matter and to "sweep" all telephone lines in the Senate to determine if any is bugged.

He also said that three weeks ago, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, retired Gen. Leonardo Lopez, conducted a sweep and found no bugging devices on any Senate telephone line. – Efren Danao