Doble now an outcast at ISAFP

For his efforts in publicly disclosing supposed classified information, T/Sgt. Vidal Doble is now considered an outcast within the intelligence community.

Doble’s involvement in supposed wiretapping activities likewise earned the ire of his colleagues in the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) who remained grounded, military insiders disclosed yesterday.

Sources said the majority of operatives working for the key military spy unit became demoralized after Doble surfaced to admit turning over tapes of supposed wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and an election official to a former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director.

The spooks are crying foul and complain they were made to suffer for the wrongdoing allegedly committed by Doble and a few of their "misguided" colleagues.

"Demoralized ang maraming mga kasamahan ni Doble. Siya na nga ang nagtraydor sa unit lumalabas pa siya ang bida ngayon, tapos sila ang patuloy na pinaparusahan (A majority of Doble’s colleagues in the intelligence community have been demoralized. He is a traitor to the unit and yet he is now being portrayed as a hero while they continue to be punished)," the source said.

"They now consider him an outcast at ISAFP," the source added.

As of yesterday, operatives of the Military Intelligence Group (MIG-21) under the ISAFP remained grounded.

Their operations were suspended last week after revelations of supposed "high-profile" wiretapping activities surfaced.

MIG-21 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).

Sources earlier disclosed the orders directly prohibited eight to 10 MIG-21 agents from leaving the ISAFP compound in 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.

The source said Doble had been singled out by bitter government spies for contributing to their predicament.

The grounded MIG-21 operatives stressed Doble should be punished for his "shady activities" which were not sanctioned by the ISAFP.

A former intelligence agent of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Task Force (PAOCTF), Doble reportedly admitted giving former NBI deputy director Samuel Ong a copy of the controversial audio recordings detailing an alleged wiretapped conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and an election official.

Some of Doble’s colleagues at the ISAFP claimed the former PAOCTF operative and a certain Sgt. Callos were the ones who removed the recordings from ISAFP custody.

Military insiders also claimed a certain Sgt. Tabang, Doble’s colleague from the PAOCTF, was being investigated for alleged complicity in slipping out the tapes and providing copies to the political opposition.

A ranking official claimed Tabang had gone on leave while Callos had been transferred from MIG-21 to MIG-23.

"Sgt. Callos and Sgt. Doble are the ones who got the tapes," said the official, quoting disgruntled MIG-21 agents.

After Ong publicly revealed the source of the controversial recordings, Doble sought refuge at the San Carlos seminary in Makati City where the former NBI official initially had holed up following his press conference last Friday.

Doble had been turned over to the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) after being "rescued" by police last Monday. His wife, Arlene, had claimed her husband was being forced by Ong to testify.

There were reports that Doble came out of hiding with Ong due to fear of retribution to his family.

It was learned that Doble, who honed his electronics spying techniques during a stint at the PAOCTF, is the only non-commissioned officer in charge of MIG-21.

Doble was among the MIG-21 agents initially reported as missing after failing to show up before military investigators.

The investigators reportedly identified Doble and another agent as those who allegedly wiretapped telephone conversations between Mrs. Arroyo and an election official in the aftermath of the 2004 general elections.

Insiders revealed the two MIG-21 agents are being eyed in the alleged wiretapping of the President.

The contents of the recordings triggered a political storm, as they supposedly revealed Mrs. Arroyo talking to a Comelec official about fixing the election results.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Efren Abu acknowledged the gravity of the supposed involvement of the military in bugging operations.

Abu ordered Rear Adm. Tirso Danga, AFP deputy chief staff for intelligence, to conduct an investigation into the involvement of ISAFP in the mess.

Danga, however, was quick to deny the ISAFP had the capability to conduct electronic surveillance and wiretapping operations.