ISAFP unit grounded over wiretapping

A team of military intelligence operatives was ordered grounded yesterday on suspicion of "high-profile" wiretapping.

Some 120 operatives of the Military Intelligence Group (MIG-21) of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were ordered confined to their barracks at the AFP headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The group formed part of the AFP’s intelligence operations in Metro Manila directly in charge of all such maneuvers by the military’s National Capital Region Command (NCRCom).

Military insiders revealed the orders directly prohibited eight to 10 MIG-21 agents from leaving the ISAFP compound at Camp Aguinaldo.

The suspended agents were directly involved in the technical aspect of the intelligence gathering of MIG-21, including the capability to conduct high-profile electronic bugging operations.

Insiders confirmed the ISAFP unit had acquired the latest bugging equipment which was removed from Camp Aguinaldo at the height of last year’s election campaigns.

"All of those working under MIG-21 involved in bugging operations are under restriction. Their morale is now low," a ranking official disclosed.

The same official, however, refused to comment on whether the military team was involved in wiretapping operations.

The suspension came amid an apparent witch-hunt over which group or individuals were behind what the government described as an illegally wiretapped telephone conversation that purportedly featured President Arroyo urging an election official to ensure she won the May 10 vote.

Some reports had suggested the recording came from the ISAFP. The recordings contained an alleged conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and a certain "Gary."

Based on what he heard, opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. named Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano as the "Gary" heard on the recordings.

Garcillano has denied he is "Gary," however.

But one person has surfaced, claiming to be "Gary."

Edgar Ruado, the chief of staff of Negros Occidental Rep. Jose Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, brother of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, presented himself Wednesday before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), claiming he sounded like the man Mrs. Arroyo refers to as "Gary" on the CD recordings.

But House Minority Leader Francis Escudero (Sorsogon) said Ruado was part of the administration’s efforts to cover up the wiretapping scandal.

Escudero said he suspected Ruado was filling in "for the real "Gary, Gare or Garci."

Toward the latter end of the recorded conversation, the President is heard calling the male speaker "Garci" instead of "Gary," Escudero said.

"And by the way, Ruado’s nickname is Bong and not Gary," he added.

The Sorsogon lawmaker maintained the man Mrs. Arroyo was talking to at the other end of the line "must be a Comelec official or a well-connected and an influential political and election operator."

Escudero recalled that when Sen. Panfilo Lacson accused the First Gentleman of holding illegal funds under the name Jose Pidal, the Negros lawmaker came out to claim he was the actual owner of the account.

Escudero cited the sudden retraction by Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, after initially confirming that the voice in the recording was indeed Mrs. Arroyo’s.

He also cited the statement made by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who claimed over nationwide television that Bunye’s admission was his personal opinion.

Likewise, the decision made by Malacañang to subject the tapes to authenticity tests amid the revelations made by Bunye is also part of the "grand cover-up," according to Escudero.

Some in the know, including reporters who covered Mrs. Arroyo when she was senator and vice president, found it hard to accept that Ruado was the "Gary" referred to in the recordings.

Former Bulacan congressman Willie Villarama who served as Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff when she was the vice president, told The STAR he never knew Ruado.

"If he is with the political staff, they reported to the LTA," Villarama said, referring to the building in Makati City owned by the family of Mrs. Arroyo’s husband where the First Gentleman also holds office.

Former colleagues of Ruado in the LTA staff said the House employee was "way downstream in the LTA hierarchy."

"He is way down. He’s not even an underling of your former colleague Bobby," said one source who worked for the Arroyos.

The source was referring to former STAR reporter Roberto Capco who handled media relations for then Vice President Arroyo and reported not to Villarama but to the President’s husband and former top image builder, Dante Ang.

The source claimed Ruado and several of his colleagues became disgruntled Arroyo employees because the President apparently forgot about them when handing out appointments as minor officials in obscure government positions.

In the case of Capco, he was initially appointed press undersecretary and later given the more lucrative post as president of the sequestered Journal Group of publications, which he held until the Supreme Court ordered its transfer to its legitimate owners. - With Jess Diaz