5 new wiretap witnesses lined up

Stressing that his new witnesses cannot be gagged, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, whose committee is heading the "Hello, Garci" inquiry, has called for Senate hearings to resume on Jan. 19.

Biazon, chairman of the committee on defense and national security, said he now has five new witnesses who have expressed willingness to come forward to testify on alleged cheating in the May 2004 elections that supposedly benefited President Arroyo.

Three of these witnesses were described as "prominent," and their testimonies will be corroborated by two other people, Biazon promised without naming the witnesses to avoid preempting his inquiry.

Biazon said the hearings on the wiretapping scandal will also focus on two new tapes.

"There are new witnesses coming out, (with) new pieces of evidence… The major focus will be on the ‘children of the mother of all tapes,’" the lawmaker said.

The new tapes were purportedly wiretapped by "somebody" from the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), which allegedly made the "Hello, Garci" recordings, but Biazon added: "I am not saying ISAFP, but I am saying it is traceable to somebody from ISAFP."

The period covered by the conversations was from January to June 2004.

Barring any hitches, Biazon was optimistic that three of the five new witnesses will be able to testify because they are not covered by Executive Order No. 464, which bars members of the Cabinet from attending congressional inquiries without presidential approval.

"I am confident that they will be coming in to testify and these three cannot be bribed, their arms cannot be twisted because they have their own stature… I don’t think these people can be influenced by anyone," he said.

Biazon earlier complained that the issuance of EO 464 had blocked the Senate from continuing its probes into various anomalies in the Arroyo administration aside from the "Hello, Garci" inquiry, including the North Rail project contract, the fertilizer fund scam and jueteng investigations.

Biazon lamented that the administration has erected various roadblocks to investigation, including legal threats against witnesses like military general Francisco Gudani, Col. Alexander Balutan, and Mayette Santos, former girlfriend of ISAFP agent Sgt. Vidal Doble.

Biazon said the new batch of witnesses will bolster earlier allegations of massive poll fraud in the 2004 polls as heard on wiretapped conversations allegedly between the President and Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

According to Biazon, the witnesses would also present two wiretapped tapes during the inquiry — the first 15 minutes long, and the second 20 to 25 minutes in length.

The third tape is a master copy of one of the two tapes, which Biazon has called the "children of the mother of all tapes."

This was apparently a reference to former National Bureau of Investigation official Samuel Ong’s public claim that he possessed the "mother of all tapes" in the "Hello, Garci" drama.

"I think they are authentic enough to be presented and be acceptable in the conduct of the hearings," the senator said.

Biazon remained mum on the details and background of the new witnesses in a bid to protect their identities.

"I don’t want them to be preempted because we don’t know what will happen," he said.

The Senate has not wrapped up its probe into the alleged breach of national security after the President was apparently wiretapped.

Mrs. Arroyo has not confirmed that her voice is contained on the recordings, however.

Witnesses Gudani and Balutan appeared at previous Senate hearings last year.

Gudani had testified before the Senate that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was spotted a number of times in the Lanao provinces carrying bundles of money, presumed by the political opposition to be money used to propel Mrs. Arroyo to victory in the last elections.

Mrs. Arroyo’s and her husband’s camps have denied the allegations of election fraud.

Last year, the Senate also heard the testimony of Doble’s girlfriend, Santos, who claimed to have gained access to the ISAFP’s so-called "Blue Room" where the alleged wiretapping activities occurred.

Santos’ statements were belied by the AFP, which raised questions about her credibility.

But the Senate said the AFP could suffer a budget cut if the military brass fails to answer questions on the apparent breach of security at the ISAFP.

Even AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga would face scrutiny at the Commission on Appointments where he was bypassed last year when he excused himself from attending the confirmation hearings last December due to the wedding of one of his sons. — Christina Mendez