‘Drilon can’t deny setting up GMA’

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye continued yesterday his offensive against Senate President Franklin Drilon, saying the senator continues to evade charges that he set up President Arroyo to topple her.

Bunye said up to now, Drilon has not met his challenge to categorically deny that he told the President’s counsel, retired Supreme Court justice Jose Vitug, that he has absolutely no reason to believe that she committed anything illegal or unconstitutional based on his study of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s transcript of the so-called "Garci tapes."

"Drilon has resorted to name-calling, accusing me of engaging in a hatchet job and, worse, of peddling lies against him," Bunye said.

He said that it was "reprehensible" of Drilon to say "he was absolutely sure the President had not done anything illegal nor unconstitutional to convince the group to agree to allowing the President to speak on the tapes, only to have him do a complete volte face (about-face) a few days later and call for the President’s resignation."

Bunye said he vividly recalled that it was Drilon’s opinion that convinced Vitug to finally agree to the former’s suggestion for the President to break her silence on the so-called "Garci tapes."

According to Bunye, Vitug was strongly against Mrs. Arroyo making any public statement on the tapes, which were recorded telephone conversations of former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, who remains in hiding.

Mrs. Arroyo apologized on June 27 for her "lapse in judgment" in calling up an election official, whom she did not identify, to "protect my votes."

Bunye said it was Drilon who even helped craft the public apology, only to spearhead the clamor for the President to resign on July 8 along with former President Corazon Aquino and former members of her economic team known as the "Hyatt 10."

He also cited Drilon’s pledge of loyalty to Mrs. Arroyo in Iloilo City only eight days before demanding that she step down from office.

Bunye said that by convincing Mrs. Arroyo to make the apology, Drilon thought he could weaken the President’s defense in the impeachment complaint that was still being hammered out by the opposition at the time.

But because the impeachment complaint was junked, Drilon has resorted to conducting several investigations on alleged anomalies and irregularities committed by the Arroyo administration, he said.

Some of the charges being investigated in the Senate, however, were part of the dismissed impeachment complaint, Bunye said.