Defensor: No stopping me

Embattled Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor vowed yesterday to continue his exposé on controversial tapes the political opposition is using against President Arroyo.

Defensor said the administration has everything to gain over the question of authenticity of the taped conversations.

He said the issue would backfire on the political opposition, which has been using the tapes against Mrs. Arroyo.

"I have no personal worry. With the way they are angrily reacting to my exposé, I think they are the ones afraid because it is already backfiring on them," Defensor told The STAR.

Defensor also dismissed the challenge posed by critics for him to resign in case his story about the tapes turns out to be wrong.

He said it is up to opposition members, particularly Sen. Panfilo Lacson, to subject all the tapes in their possession to analysis and expert opinion.

"I am not emotional, mad, or high-strung as they (opposition) seem to be," Defensor said. "I have nothing to fear because what I got was expert opinion."

Defensor presented at a press conference in Quezon City last Friday the findings of Texas-based forensic video and audio analysis expert Barry Dickey who purportedly stated the two tracks of the controversial tape brought to him for examination contained "several anomalies."

Defensor also brought in some local audio experts to bolster claims that the wiretap tapes being used as among the evidence against Mrs. Arroyo in the impeachment proceedings might have been "spliced and doctored."

Defensor stressed the tapes might have been made to appear that Mrs. Arroyo and the election official she was supposedly talking to at the other end of the line were planning to rig the results of the May 10, 2004 presidential election.

"I am basing (my statements) on the study conducted by a forensic sound expert. No technical analysis has ever been made on the tapes before this. This is the first time," he said.

Defensor claimed the opposition was apparently caught in a bind since they cannot question Dickey’s credibility and expertise.

"The opposition, at this point, could not obviously assail the credibility of Texas-based forensic video and audio analyst Barry Dickey so they are now assailing the same tape they are using as evidence to the impeachment complaint against the President," he said.

The mere fact that Dickey acknowledged the anomalies in the taped conversations should be enough reason for the junking of the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, Defensor stressed.

Defensor said the lawmakers pushing for the impeachment of Mrs. Arroyo based on the wiretap tapes as evidence should pull out.

He said the integrity of the evidence being used was already put in question, thus warranting the dismissal of the complaint.

Defensor announced he will submit the findings before the House of Representatives today, in his capacity as a "concerned" private citizen and taxpayer.

This will be a separate move from the initiatives of the lawyers defending Mrs. Arroyo in the impeachment complaint, he said.

Defensor said he will be visiting the opposition congressmen and come up with a common solution and consensus in addressing the political impassé.

‘A Political Smut’

Critics now trained their guns against Defensor, asking the embattled official to resign in his effort to defend Mrs. Arroyo by "twisting the truth" and making "a mockery of the justice system."

Militant groups led by Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the resignation of Defensor is now "highly relevant, material, necessary, and non-negotiable."

"The dishonorable Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources should step down for committing the most pornographic crime of the century," Pamalakaya said.

Pamalakaya leader Fernando Hicap claimed Defensor last Friday presented "nothing but a political smut."

In Defensor’s apparent attempt to defend the President from the impeachment proceedings stemming over the wiretap controversy, Hicap said it was a "bad spoof" to claim that the opposition is using a doctored evidence against Mrs. Arroyo.

The group urged the Commission on Appointments (CA) to recall Defensor’s confirmation as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

"The CA is highly obliged to make an immediate reversal of its previous decision. Those who approved the appointment of Defensor should be compelled by public opinion... to recall or cancel his employment as DENR secretary," Hicap said.

Pamalakaya said Defensor should focus on his job of protecting the environment rather than defending the President from political fallout.

"Instead of going after the big-time illegal loggers, and large-scale destroyers of the Philippine environment, 99 percent of his time is being devoted to defending the President," Hicap said.

Defensor, on the other hand, said his resignation will not stop him from addressing the issue.

"The call for resignation, my resignation, or anyone’s resignation is more on personal pride and personal conviction," Defensor said.

"It is best that we all meet and discuss one proper manner to discover what really the truth is. Resignation is not for national interest," he said.

Likewise, Jonathan Tiongco, one of the local audio experts presented by Defensor in last Friday’s press conference, said he had already doubted the authenticity of the tapes being used against Mrs. Arroyo.

Tiongco claimed conducting his own initial examination of the tapes before presenting them to Defensor several weeks ago before it was brought to Dickey in the US for further analysis.

The tag price for tapping Dickey’s expertise was $3,500, taken from Defensor’s personal account. Tiongco made the initiative of bringing the tapes to the US.

In a press conference in Iloilo City yesterday, Tiongco denied allegations from the opposition that he lied to boost the claims of Defensor over the wiretap tapes.

"Sound engineering is an exact science. My credibility has no business in exact science. I only conclude on what I have discovered. What is important is what science says," Tiongco said.

Tiongco called for a news conference in reaction to the allegations made by Lacson that Defensor tapped the services of local audio experts with allegedly tainted reputations, alluding to him.

"I can be a liar and yet will still be true when I say that the world is round; and I can also tell Ping Lacson that when a big rock hits your head, your head will crack," Tiongco said.

Tiongco denied charges that he offered his testimony to Sandra Cam and Wilfredo "Boy" Mayor, the witnesses who implicated members of the First Family in illegal gambling payoffs in the Senate inquiry on jueteng operations.

Tiongco claimed that it so happened he had a common friend with Mayor.

"I did not. Ganito yun, may kaibigan ako na kaibigan rin ni Mayor (This is what happened, I have a friend who is also a friend of Mayor)," Tiongco explained. "What capacity do I have to do that?"

Tiongco also revealed submitting his findings earlier to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, a fellow Ilonggo.

"But I didn’t offer my services," he said. "Just my report."

At any rate, he added, Gonzalez did not act on his findings over the tape.

If The Price Is Right

In the same news conference, Tiongco revealed Defensor has offered P3.1 million for sound engineers who will work in analyzing the tape.

Tiongco claimed Defensor has tasked him to look for seven to 10 sound engineers with at least 10 years experience to work in the 155 tracks contained in the wiretap tapes.

"We are still in the recruitment process," he told The STAR.

Tiongco mentioned a "prior agreement" with Defensor to secure the services of a reputed sound expert from the United States that would confirm his findings.

On that agreement, Tiongco said he will be "contracted" by Defensor to form a team of sound engineers.

He said every sound engineer in the team will be paid at least P20,000 for every track analyzed which will take about two to three months to complete.

When asked though who will be bankrolling the team of engineers, Tiongco only said that he had no idea.

"I don’t know, basta siya (Defensor) lang daw ang bahala," he said, quoting Defensor.

Tiongco, however, denied that he was lured into concluding that the tapes were "doctored."

"It (money) is not important to me. I can quit if I want to," he said. - With Ronilo Ladrino Pamonag