AFP chief to Senate: No security breach at ISAFP

After receiving flak from lawmakers, Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga assailed the credibility and competence of the principal witness in the wiretapping probe before the Senate, stressing her testimony constitutes "no breach in security."

Amid claims by principal witness Marietta Santos that she saw how the supposed wiretapping of President Arroyo’s conversations took place inside the so-called "Blue Room" of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Senga downplayed the testimony, pointing out her lack of technical knowledge.

"(Santos) said she saw… equipment, I think she doesn’t have the technical competence to identify (what) a bugging device looks like," Senga told a joint news conference with Senate President Franklin Drilon yesterday.

"Unang-una kasi ang nakikita ko (From what I initially observed), everything that Marietta Santos is saying is taken as gospel truth... We should first analyze the statement from whom it is coming," Senga said.

Asked if there was a breach of security as alleged by Drilon and Senators Joker Arroyo and Manuel Villar Jr., Senga’s reply was an emphatic "no."

"No, there is no breach of security," he said.

Senga reiterated that the AFP has no capability to eavesdrop on private phone conversations, citing the lack of high-tech equipment.

There was an effort to purchase the wiretapping equipment during the term of former AFP chief Gen. Narciso Abaya, but it did not materialize because the price was too expensive, Senga said.

"Let me say that we have determined that ISAFP has no capability to, so to speak, tap cellular conversations, there is no such thing as wiretapping capability. In fact that is not wiretapping, what we are talking (about) is listening to cellular phone conversations," he said.

In the same news conference, Senga promised to provide the Senate committee on defense and national security led by Sen. Rodolfo Biazon with the results of the AFP’s investigation on the issue.

He said the investigation started during the term of his predecessor Gen. Efren Abu when the issue of the "Hello, Garci" wiretap recordings was made public last June.

Senga also offered his apologies to the Senate over the terse statements made by AFP information chief Col. Tristan Kison, who challenged Santos to substantiate her allegations before the courts. He stressed that the burden of proof for any wrongdoing rests not with the accused, but with the accuser.

Santos claimed her lover, Air Force T/Sgt. Vidal Doble, was the leader of the 14-man technical team of the ISAFP’s Military Intelligence Group 21 (MIG-21) that bugged a telephone conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Aside from her lover, Santos claimed other ISAFP agents that worked in the team were Captains Windell Rebong and Rex Sagge, a certain "Captain 214," M/Sergeants Velledo and Callos, and T/Sgt. Abanto Cando.

Santos revealed she was able to move around freely in the ISAFP compound, particularly where the MIG-21’s "Blue Room" is located.

This is where the sophisticated telephone wiretapping devices and electronic surveillance equipment were located, she said.

On the fate of the ISAFP agents implicated by Santos in the Senate probe, Senga said they have been reassigned to other less sensitive units.

Doble, according to Senga, was placed under protective custody and assigned to a "non-sensitive job."

Doble had accused former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong of forcing him to admit he was the source of the "Hello, Garci" tapes.

"What I gathered from the statement of Sgt. Doble is that he was given money to say that the tapes from him are from ISAFP," Senga added.

On the other hand, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago urged the AFP yesterday to publicly reveal the results of its internal investigation of the wiretapping scandal.

"Our Constitution recognizes the right of our people to information on matters of public concern," Santiago said.

Lawmakers have been calling on the AFP to sanction its intelligence chief Rear Admiral Tirso Danga in connection with the wiretapping scandal.

They pointed out Danga was then the ISAFP chief when the "Hello, Garci" wiretap matter first came to light.

While senators also threatened to slash the AFP budget and hold the confirmation and promotion of Senga, the AFP, through Kison, assured an internal investigation into the issue was underway. Among those being investigated is Danga, he added.

However, Kison rejected the lawmakers’ demand for Danga’s relief. — With Jaime Laude