‘Ping aide in US to coerce Dy’

A former intelligence officer who worked under opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson when Lacson was still Philippine National Police (PNP) chief is now in the US trying to "coerce" former Isabela governor Faustino Dy to testify against President Arroyo on alleged poll fraud, an administration lawmaker said yesterday.

Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella said retired PNP director Julius Yarcia, who served as PNP director in Isabela during Dy’s tenure as governor, left Manila and "led a party of operatives" to ensure that Dy testifies in the Senate jueteng probe.

"We have reliable reports that General Yarcia has been camped on Dy’s doorstep virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Puentevella said. "Despite Dy’s statement that he was never a witness of the opposition, Yarcia has been incessant in his attempt to bring Dy over to their side."

He also disclosed that, based on the information he "gathered," the opposition is "pressuring Dy to come out with hardball tactics."

"Attempts to influence Dy to testify could very well include threats by Yarcia to pressure him to agree," he added.

"Dy is loaded, money won’t do the trick and he has a strong reason to remain abroad with his family because of the continued threats to his life from the New People’s Army (NPA)," Puentevella said.

He also said Yarcia is a "close associate of former President Estrada" and is "one of Lacson’s most trusted and closest associates." Yarcia originally belonged to the PMA Class ‘71, as Lacson did, but graduated the following year after he was "turned back" by his peers.

Puentevella described Yarcia as the "headmaster" of a "Philippine Witness Academy" — or "PWA" — manufacturing false, perjuring witnesses.

He also said Yarcia was responsible for recruiting two Comelec officials to testify on allegations of election fraud against the administration.

Comelec officials Ferdinand Gerardo of San Fernando, Pampanga and Gilbert Palogan of Bulacan earlier said Yarcia, who introduced himself as a "close friend" of Lacson, tried to convince them to testify on alleged election fraud last year. They said they were offered huge sums of money.

Puentevella also said Yarcia was also responsible for securing jueteng witness Richard Garcia, who later backtracked on his testimony that members of the First Family received jueteng payola.

"This is like what Hogwarts is for wizards in the Harry Potter books, but I understand this academy’s motto is different: Thou Shall Bear False Witness," Puentevella said. "This PWA is the finest one of its kind in the world, in the production of perjuring witnesses," he added.

"As proof of the Academy’s caliber, one need not to go further but to look at the performances of its products: Boy Mayor, Sandra Cam, and its latest graduate, Michaelangelo Zuce," he said. "Sandra Cam is the valedictorian — she can go back and teach."

Dismissal

In Ilagan, Isabela, the still politically influential Dy family dismissed all statements attributed to the former Isabela governor as mere speculations — except for those issued by him personally or by his designated spokesman.

At the same time, Alicia town mayor Napoleon Dy, a brother of the former governor, asked both administration and opposition personalities to refrain from issuing statements or speaking on behalf of his brother over issues attributed to him.

"Our brother has spoken. He never authorized anybody to speak on his behalf," Napoleon said. "Any pronouncement not from him personally or from his designated spokesman are mere speculations and hearsay." Napoleon Dy is the president of the 34-member Isabela league of mayors.

He scored former solicitor general Frank Chavez for issuing statements as though they were official and for saying he was the lawyer of the former Isabela governor.

Chavez earlier said he was Dy’s legal counsel and that he was scheduled to fly to the US, where Dy has been staying since losing his reelection bid last year. Chavez also said he would obtain Dy’s testimony in connection with the jueteng payoffs and election fraud controversies involving the President.

In a statement read for him last Friday in Los Angeles, California by his designated spokesman, former Isabela congressman Giorgidi Aggabao, the former governor expressed his willingness to testify in "a proper forum" to shed light on the controversies surrounding the President.

In his statement Dy, the incumbent president of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, also vowed to tell the truth about reported jueteng payoffs and election irregularities, which have raised questions about Mrs. Arroyo’s victory in last year’s election.

The opposition described the statement as Dy’s admission that he had "personal knowledge" of Mrs. Arroyo’s alleged meeting with officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at her residence in La Vista, Quezon City, wherein the jueteng payoffs supposedly took place months before the May 2004 elections.

Napoleon said the entire Dy clan and their political allies will always be supportive of the former Isabela governor, whatever decision he makes in connection with the controversy.

Isabela third district Rep. Faustino Dy III said the former governor "cannot be cowed" into testifying should he decide to come home.

Besides Rep. Dy and Mayor Dy, the former governor’s younger brothers include Cauayan City, Isabela Mayor Caesar Dy, former governor Benjamin Dy Sr. and Cauayan City councilor Victor Dy. The late Faustino Dy Sr. was Isabela’s longest-serving governor.

Assurances

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he had received assurance from a person close to the former Isabela governor that Dy will return to the country Wednesday to testify at the next Senate jueteng inquiry.

"I have not spoken to Gov. Dy, but it is clear that he will come for the investigation," Pimentel said. "I came to know this though a friend who is in contact with the former governor."

However, if Dy fails to appear at the hearing, Pimentel said the Senate hearings should still continue, since there are other witnesses scheduled to testify before the Senate panel.

He added that Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz had a new witness to present. Pimentel also said he had his own "surprise" witness, though he did not elaborate.

Regarding Garcia’s public admission that he gave false testimony, Pimentel said "the administration will always try to track down and intimidate the witnesses. You cannot expect a witness to testify and go about his life as if things are normal. You are up against the President and members of her family and you have to face the risks of doing (this)." — With Marvin Sy, Charlie Lagasca