Cam, Mayor question Tiongco’s credibility

Who is Jonathan Tiongco?

Jueteng witnesses Sandra Cam and Wilfredo "Boy" Mayor questioned the credibility of an "expert" witness presented by Environment Secretary Michael Defensor yesterday to prove that the controversial "Hello, Garci" tapes had been spliced.

Cam said Tiongco approached her and Mayor a few weeks ago and tried to convince them to retract their statements against members of the First Family.

In an interview with The Star, Mayor said he met Tiongco by chance on July 26 at the office of their lawyer, Francisco Chavez.

Mayor said Tiongco offered information against Sen. Richard Gordon, with whom Chavez had a verbal tussle during the Senate inquiry on jueteng.

The argument between Gordon and Chavez prompted the Senate to cite Chavez for contempt and bar him from attending future Senate hearings.

Tiongco seems to have an axe to grind against Gordon, who exposed Tiongco’s long list of criminal cases at the height of the Commission on Appointments (CA) hearings on the appointment of Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes in May.

Tiongco said he "discovered" that the "Hello, Garci" recording was "anomalous," saying he believed it was proper that he "give my comment on it, since part of my profession was analyzing sounds and recordings."

He also said he is a disc jockey and a digital sound engineer and editor by trade.

He said he won the 1990 DMC "DJ Mixing of the South" contest and is a record producer, computer systems analyst and intelligence consultant. Tiongco also said he is a human rights activist and staunch supporter of the late presidential contender and action star Fernando Poe Jr.

Tiongco said he took it upon himself to analyze various digital copies of the controversial recorded conversations allegedly between President Arroyo and an official believed to be former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano — recordings which he said were obtained through wiretaps "most probably" from a landline or a combination of a landline and cellular phone.

He said he obtained copies of these recordings from Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, South Cotabato Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio and other members of the opposition.

Tiongco also said he obtained other samples of the same recordings from among those distributed in Congress. He also downloaded a sample from the website of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), www.pcij.org.

According to him, the copy of the controversial recordings presented by Paguia is the "product of review" and was "overdubbed for labeling." These tapes, he said, "are not original, first-generation copies."

Employing source verification methods to determine the recordings’ "noise floor continuity analysis" and for signs of "editing or alteration examination," Tiongco discovered that "abnormal acoustic events are present in the recording."

He added that "several audible and viewable spikes, which indicate splicing or editing, are also present."

"I gave my comment regarding the veracity of the tapes to more than 30 congressmen," Tiongco said. "The congressmen ignored me. Nobody summoned me to testify in the inquiry."

‘Mercenary’

Mayor described Tiongco as a "mercenary," whose only aim was to earn money by peddling lies, "Tiongco is a mercenary. He goes where the money is," he said.

Mayor said he and Tiongco communicated through text messages. He added that Tiongco had another companion named Billy Velayo, who tried to convince him and Cam to recant their statements as former jueteng witness Richard Garcia did earlier this week.

"Tiongco even invited me to go to Classmates (a nightclub in Quezon City), and he told me Richard Garcia did the right thing and that we should follow suit," Mayor said in Tagalog. "What he understood was that we were being used by the opposition and that all we want is to stop jueteng."

Mayor added that, a few days before Defensor’s press conference, Tiongco bragged that the "Hello, Garci" controversy would be negated by an authentication report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"I was surprised to see (Tiongco) on TV as one of those supposed experts on audiotapes and I recalled that this was what he was saying all along about the wiretapped tapes," Mayor said. "He should be investigated."

Tiongco had referred to Mr. Arroyo as "Code 1" during the exchange of text messages, Mayor said. Tiongco even claimed he was working with Reyes, as well as opposition Senators Panfilo Lacson, Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada.

Gordon unmasked Tiongco’s shady past in May and outlined at least 10 criminal cases filed against him before various courts — cases ranging from illegal possession of firearms to murder.

Camiguin Rep. Jesus Romualdo, who chaired the CA hearings in May, also said he was not convinced by Tiongco’s claims.

Tiongco was not initially included in the official list of those opposed to Reyes’ appointment, but he created a scene at the May 4 CA hearing after he was caught coaching another witness, Eduardo Arabit.

Shady Background

Citing background information provided by the National Bureau of Investigation during the hearing, Gordon said Tiongco had been a defendant in at least 10 criminal cases. According to the NBI data, Tiongco studied high school in Iloilo and took up a computer course in Manila.

Gordon said eight of the 10 cases were dismissed due to the failure of the complainants to appear, while an amicable settlement was reached in the other cases.

Although Tiongco said most of the cases were dismissed, he still faces a homicide case in Pasay City. Gordon said that two witnesses against Tiongco in the homicide case died under "mysterious circumstances."

Gordon said witness Cezar Sofocado died in a drive-by shooting in front of his videoke bar located along F.B. Harrison Street in Pasay City in February 1998, some three months after Tiongco was charged for homicide. Another witness, Armando Gonzales, was stabbed to death in the same area four months after Sofocado’s death.

After the hearing, Gordon said the CA should disregard Tiongco’s statements, saying he was not convinced by his testimony. He also said Tiongco’s motives should be bared and he should not be allowed to "utilize" the CA in pursuing his own ends.

During questioning by Enrile, Tiongco said he met Reyes in 2001 when he joined anti-government forces in ousting then President Joseph Estrada. Enrile admitted in the middle of the hearing that he and Tiongco’s father, Jose, were "friends."

Enrile also brought out Tiongco’s letter to Reyes dated July 30, 2004, in which Tiongco seemed to be seeking an appointment from Reyes, who had just been appointed secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

In a letter dated May 4 addressed to Senate President Franklin Drilon as head of the CA, anti-crime crusader Teresita Ang-See also questioned Tiongco’s credibility.

Ang-See’s letter was presented to and scrutinized by Enrile during his cross-examination of Tiongco.

In her letter, Ang-See said Tiongco tried to talk her into implicating Reyes in "conspiracy and kidnapping" but she later said Tiongco’s charges were "concocted."

‘Exaggerations’

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said in a press conference that Tiongco had a tendency to exaggerate, adding that Tiongco visited his office twice and offered himself as a government witness in connection with the controversial "Hello, Garci" tape hearings.

"I just told him to leave what he has," Gonzalez said. "(Tiongco) claimed he was an audio-electronic expert. He submitted some tapes to me, but until now, I did not even bother to hear them. I had second thoughts (about) entertaining his claims because of his role in attacking Reyes," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he knows about Tiongco’s family background: "His father is a lawyer. His father is a bit landed in Iloilo."

Despite his doubts about Tiongco’s claims, Gonzalez said that Tiongco might still be a good witness or resource person for Defensor.

Tiongco submitted to the NBI a two-page affidavit in which he claimed to belong to the Sonora clan, the family of Poe’s widow Susan Roces.

"I have come voluntarily to present my expertise and personal knowledge with regards to the tapes proliferated against the President," Tiongco said in his affidavit. "I have been a staunch FPJ supporter since December 2003 and I also ascend from the Sonora clan. My father, Atty. Jose B. Tiongco, is a third cousin of Ms. Susan Roces and I wish to make it clear that I will never betray a... relative, my only interest is for the truth to come out."

"I am (a)professional sound engineer and a master in digital audio processing and I am not convinced that said recordings are authentic or unaltered from its original state," Tiongco said in the analysis report he submitted to Congress.

He said he had worked as a DJ since 1988 and was in the digital audio business since 1992. He also said he worked as a digital audio editor and producer for a firm called Discotech Remix Service based in Richmond, Virginia from 1993 to 1996 and filled similar posts in Valentine Music Publishing Singapore from 1997 to 1998, Universal Records from 1998 to 1999 and Star Records from 2000 to December 2003. He also produced a copy of certification from Star Records.

Tiongco added he "was also trained as an engineer in advanced digital multimedia, advance network administration and cellular communication systems at ACMEX systems, Japan" from 1996 to 1997. ACMEX manufactures peripherals for Toyota, Honda, Yamaha, Ricoh, Canon and Motorola.

He claims to have been recruited as an intelligence consultant and deep penetration agent for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which implements international copyright laws.

IFPI represents the recording industry worldwide with over 1,450 members in 75 countries and affiliated industry associations in 48 countries.

According to the website www.ifpi.org, "IFPI’s international Secretariat is based in London and is linked to regional offices in Brussels, Hong Kong, Miami and Moscow."

IFPI’s priority policies include "fighting music piracy, promoting fair market access and adequate copyright laws, helping develop the legal conditions and technologies for the recording industry to prosper in the digital era and promoting the value of music in the development of economies, as well as in social and cultural life."

Tiongco also claims he was secretly trained in the forensic examination of counterfeit audio material and assigned to a few high-risk, confidential operations to infiltrate a triad based in Hong Kong and Macau. — With Jose Rodel Clapano, Katherine Adraneda