Manapat suspected of taking orders from Mike A

Former National Archives director Ricardo Manapat could be taking orders from First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to forge the documents needed to disqualify actor and opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.

This was according to the testimony made by Felix Loqueng, driver of the National Archives assigned to Manapat, before a hearing at the Senate yesterday.

Loqueng claimed his erstwhile boss was a frequent visitor of Mr. Arroyo at his Makati City office since last year.

Loqueng, who has been assigned as driver for Manapat since 1981, testified before the Senate committee on electoral reforms headed by Sen. Edgardo Angara that he drove the former Archives chief to Mr. Arroyo’s office in LTA building twice sometime in December last year.

"I drove Mr. Manapat to Mr. Arroyo’s office twice in Makati. He told me he is meeting with his lawyers in the LTA building. I know that it is the office of Mr. Arroyo because I saw the latter’s car and the service vehicles of the Presidential Security Group (PSG)," Loqueng said.

He claimed that on Jan. 12, he drove Manapat to the Floro Foto in Quiapo, Manila. At the time, he said, Manapat was carrying a brown envelope containing various documents.

Loqueng said Manapat ordered him on Jan. 5 to drive employee Remmel Talabis to the office of Justice Antonio Carpio at the Supreme Court.

"Talabis was carrying an envelope. But I don’t know its contents," Loqueng said.

Loqueng told the Senate hearing that Manapat even ordered him to drive him to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) where his boss had a chat with a certain "Fabs," which he learned later was Rafael Maskinas.

After the hearing of the Senate on Jan. 21. I was ordered by Mr. Manapat to bring him to his house in Antipolo (Rizal).

I was ordered by Mr. Manapat to upload from the car the CPU (central processing unit) of a computer. After the hearing at the Senate on Jan. 21. Mr. Manapat went to the office of his lawyers twice," he said.

Loqueng also claimed Mr. Manapat also met with former National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) chief Jose Almonte sometime in 1998.

"But I am not aware whether they are that close," he said.

William Duff, the service supervisor of Floro Foto, told the Senate committee that Manapat brought two bundles of documents at his office for microfilming on Jan. 10.

Duff said Manapat left an order not to scan the bundles – copies of birth certificates and deeds of sale –since they are "confidential documents."

He said that of the 20 to 50 documents handed over to him for microfilming, there was a strict order from Manapat not to read its contents since they are highly classified documents.

"Mr. Manapat asked me how long (it will take) to microfilm them. I told him that I can finish it in 30 (minutes) to one hour. He left."

"After I finished microfilming the documents. I left the documents to Emy, the secretary of my boss Mr. Victor Floro, because I was leaving at that time. Mr. Manapat took the documents from Emy later in the day when I was no longer in our office," Duff said.

Duff said the microfilm that he prepared were processed at their processing plant in Tanay, Rizal.

Duff said he found out that these two bundles contained the alleged birth record of Allan Fernando Poe, a marriage certificate between Poe and a certain Gomez, and a Spanish document with Gomez’s signature, when he was asked by Manapat last Jan. 17 to read the finished microfilm rolls he had ordered at his office in Florofoto.

Duff said Manapat asked him to scroll the microfilm rolls and print copies of these documents, which were hardly readable, so he had to "enlarge" the microfilm images to come out with legible printed copies of the documents.

Senator Angara said the testimonies of both Loqueng and Duff can be used as "circumstantial evidence" against Manapat.