‘Mike’ to ‘Garci’ on tape: Let’s help Barbers

"Kung puede tulungan mo si Bobby Barbers... loyal sa atin si Bobby (If possible, let’s help Bobby Barbers, he’s loyal to us)."

This is the voice of a man in the "Hello, Garci" tapes who sounds like First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. The person he is talking with is believed to be "missing" former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

A 32-minute compact disc (CD) version of the tapes was played late Thursday night until early morning yesterday by five House committees inquiring into the recordings.

The CD version was supplied by Alan Paguia, a former lawyer of ousted President Joseph Estrada in his plunder trial. Paguia told the five committees that, among other people, he heard on the recordings President Arroyo, her husband, Garcillano and former senator Robert "Bobby" Barbers engaging in "criminal conversations."

Breaking her silence on the taped conversations scandal, the President has admitted talking to an "election official," describing it as a "lapse in judgment" for which she apologized.

In one phone call, the conversation between the man sounding like Mr. Arroyo and "Garci" goes like this:

"Si Mike to, kung puede ho tulungan mo si Bobby Barbers."

"Oo nga, pero mahihirapan na tayo, medyo nabuko tayo sa Lanao del Sur at hindi na makakahabol dito sa Cotabato," the man tells his caller.

"Ganoon ba, baka puede pang magawan ng paraan," the caller insists.

In other conversations, the caller pleads: "Boss, tulungan mo sana ’yung loyal sa atin, si Bobby."

"Bobby?" the man at the other end asks.

"Oo, Barbers," the caller replies.

"Papano pag kayo-kayo diyan?" the man asks, apparently referring to the fight for the last senatorial slot between Barbers and Senate colleague Rodolfo Biazon. The two sought reelection under the administration ticket led by Mrs. Arroyo.

"Nag-file ng parang annulment or something. Tingnan mo kung matutulungan mo," the caller tells the man.

"O sige, talaga namang ating inaano si Bobby eh, siya naman talaga ang atin eh," the man answers.

"Oo, siya ang talagang atin," the caller assures him and ends his call.

In her supposed conversation with Garcillano, Mrs. Arroyo refers to the Biazon-Barbers fight at least once.

The discussion goes like this:

"Si ano, si Biazon nagbabanta, kung madadaya daw siya papabuksan daw niya ‘yung sa Tawi-Tawi, eh baka raw ako ang madale doon," the female caller tells the man on the other end.

"Baka nga ho ma’am," he answers.

"Hindi ba puedeng ma-delay ‘yung ano, yung senatorial canvassing until after the voting on the rules tonight?" she asks.

"Rules? Sige po, mag-usap kami ni Chairman," he replies, apparently referring to Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos.

There are also calls from a man who sounds like Barbers to "Garci."

"Tumawag sa akin si Congressman Salceda kagabi, panalo tayo sa Ligao (Albay) ng 1.2," the caller tells the man on the other end during one phone call, apparently referring to Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.

"1.2?" the man asks.

"Oo, kaya maganda na," the caller answers.

"Oo, ang problema niyan baka hindi ako makapag-participate ngayon kasi," the man informs him.

"Di bale, di bale, basta ikaw ang tumutulong sa akin, wala akong problema," the caller says.

Sought for comment yesterday, Barbers’ congressman-son Robert Ace said the man whom Paguia claims is his father indeed sounds like the former senator, "but I’m not sure."

He said he had asked his father about the supposed conversations, and was told by him that he could not remember talking to Garcillano during the senatorial canvass.

"However, if he is indeed my father, there is no showing, contrary to what Paguia claims, that he conducted a ‘criminal conversation’ with the man he is talking to on the CD. He is just asking the man to help him protect his votes," Rep. Barbers said.

"If we cheated in the elections, and if Commissioner Garcillano cheated for us, we would not have lost (to Sen. Rodolfo Biazon)," he stressed.

As for the supposed calls between the First Gentleman and Garcillano, Barbers said if, indeed, the President’s husband made those calls, he was thankful to him for having tried to help his father win.

Garcillano’s alleged conversations with other personalities are also included in the Paguia CD.

One caller is identified as "Congressman Espina." He is apparently former Biliran representative Genaro "Gerry" Espina.

The caller is seeking help for a mayor in Kotaba town.

"Oo, nasa akin ang papel niya, pero hindi yata sa akin naka-assign," the man at the other end answers.

"Kanino kaya? Nasa first division?" the caller queries.

"Oo nga, nasa aming tatlo nila Javier, Borra, pero titingnan ko," the man replies.

The two later agree to call each other again and meet.

In another conversation, "Garci" and an unidentified man talk about money and increasing votes by 70,000.

"Padre, doon daw sa Basilan, wala nang nagbabantay pare, pinabayaan na ng mga tao. ‘Yun na lang ang natitira, Basilan," the caller tells the man on other end.

"May petition kasi for annulment doon," the man informs him.

"Ah, ganoon?" the caller asks.

"Sumobra masyado," the man replies.

"Puwedeng ikarga mo naman yung 70,000 pare. May pag-asa pa ba tayo? Sa Basilan, puwede pa, at saka sa Isabela," the caller insists.

"Oo," the man answers.

"Pero, sitenta mil ang kailangan, pare," the caller tells him.

"Oo, 70,000," he responds.

"Konti lang ’yon. Sige na pare, patotohanin mo na. Wala nang pag-asa ’yan, pare. Kung ano mang konsiderasyon, sabihin na lang sa akin. Pare, pakisuyo lang, pakitapos na lang, para ’yon na lang alalahanin ko sa yo. Pero marami pang natitira, puwede pang dagdagan, 70,000 lang ang kailangan, pare," the caller says.

"Okay," is the answer heard.

The caller inquires how much was needed, to whom he should deliver the money and when.

"Pare, ako papuntang Baguio, pero kung maaari, magpakwan ka ng, magkano ba ang iyong kaya? Kahit magkano," the man tells him.

Pare, kung anong sabihin mo, kasi baka magbigay tayo ng maliit," the caller says.

"1.5 to 2," the man suggests. The figures apparently refer to P1.5 to P2 million.

"O sige," the caller answers.

They agree that the money be entrusted to the executive secretary of the caller, whom he identifies as "Mrs. Ellen Peralta."

Reporters who have checked with Garcillano’s Comelec office have found out that the former commissioner’s secretary is named Ellen Peralta. She has gone on an indefinite leave since the controversy over the wiretapped conversations erupted.

The five House probe panels have asked Paguia to turn over the two audio cassette tapes that he said ran to about three hours and which he shorted into a 32-minute version, then added a four-minute introduction.

"Those tapes, and the ‘mother of all tapes’ of Atty. Samuel Ong, if we can get hold of them, will be played in a public hearing," Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, who chairs the public information committee that is leading the inquiry, said yesterday.

"We hope we can finish this investigation by Thursday next week," he said.

For his part, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. said it is important that the nation hear Ong’s "mother of all tapes."

He said the mother tape "contains interesting conversations of key opposition figures, in and out of public office, perhaps in and out of jail... including some holier-than-thou personalities who have been painting the administration black."

"If we really want to ferret out the truth, it must be in its entirety and not one sliced and diced based on their perception of what the public should hear and see. Otherwise, we will only be perpetuating a great lie," he said.

‘Play The Original’

Administration congressmen said yesterday that the original "mother of all tapes" — claimed to be in the hands of a former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official — should be played before the House and not a spliced and edited version.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay challenged former NBI deputy director Samuel Ong to come out and present the unedited, unexpurgated version he claimed to possess before the House hearing to reveal all personalities — both from the administration and the opposition — who are mentioned and identified in the tapes.

Pichay said the tape spliced and edited by Alan Paguia, former counsel of ousted President Joseph Estrada, comprised the most potentially incriminating conversations involving the President regarding the elections, and have been fed to the public by shadowy and sinister forces.

He described the tape as a "Greatest Hits collection" against Mrs. Arroyo. "But this is only an illegitimate child. We want Mr. Ong to come here to Congress and give us his version of the mother tape," Pichay said.

It was high time, he said, to fully reveal to the people the other public figures captured on tape.

"Perhaps the reason why Ong has not come out is because the playing of the purported mother of all tapes will reveal many political figures from all colors of the political spectrum, including some holier-than-thous who have been painting the administration black."

Pichay said he and his colleagues in the majority want to ensure that the whole truth would come out in the House hearings, and not just a version of it as processed by Paguia.

Members of the House tape probe committees pushed to subpoena the source of the two audio recordings edited by the former Estrada lawyer.

Lakas-CMD Reps. Marcelino Libanan (Eastern Samar) and Exequiel Javier (Antique) also pushed for Paguia to present the original audio recordings during the inquiry’s resumption next week to determine their full content.

Libanan said Paguia’s adamant refusal to name the source of the tape and his act of splicing, tampering and altering the two original tapes remained highly questionable.

"He produced a shorter version probably because he wants to keep some important things from being heard by the public. The public has the right to know the tape’s contents so we should play the original audio recordings," Libanan said.

Javier for his part said the presentation of the tape source can lead to the resolution of the controversy, including identification of the wiretapper.

"The House has nothing to hide in the inquiry. We should therefore hear the original tapes given to Paguia," he said.