Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz refused to reveal on Thursday night details of the report prepared by Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga following his investigation of at least four generals mentioned by "Garci," a figure thought to be former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano whose voice appears on the controversial "Hello, Garci" wiretapped recordings.
Cruz gave his refusal during the course of House floor debates on the P46.5-billion defense budget for 2006.
Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, a former military officer, asked Cruz to disclose the details of the Mayuga report.
Speaking through Manila Rep. Rodolfo Bacani, who was defending the military budget, Cruz said he could not reveal anything about the report.
"We will submit the report to President Arroyo within this month with the recommendation that the Senate and the House be given copies," said the defense chief.
He said it would be up to the President to send copies to Congress and to make the report public.
When asked by Abaya what was preventing him from revealing the report, Cruz, through Bacani, replied without elaborating: "It’s the chain of command."
Unlike in committee hearings, Cabinet members and other executive officials are not allowed to directly answer questions in plenary debates. Bacani consulted with Cruz and Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga in providing answers to his colleagues’ queries.
Abaya was told that Senga received the report from Mayuga in January and that the AFP chief transmitted it to Cruz in the middle of last month.
Asked about his report on Thursday night, the Navy chief told reporters: "My lips are sealed." Senga and Esperon declined requests for interviews.
One observer jokingly predicted that if the Mayuga report were to be disclosed, "the next chief of the staff (of the Armed Forces) could come from the Navy, not the Army."
But the Navy chief answered he was looking forward to retirement so he could engage in the business of building and selling houses.
Toward the latter part of last year, Senga ordered Mayuga, who was then inspector general of the Armed Forces, to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the alleged involvement of the so-called "Garci" generals in election fraud.
The generals are Army chief Hermogenes Esperon, who is reportedly eyeing the post of chief of staff after Senga’s retirement; Southern Command chief Gabriel Habacon; Habacon’s immediate predecessor Roy Kyamko, now retired; and Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani of the Marines, also now retired.
Esperon, Habacon, Kyamko and Gudani are mentioned by "Garci" in his supposed recorded conversations with a female caller who sounds like President Arroyo.
"Garci" reports to his caller that Gudani was not cooperating with him, that he had Kyamko relieve the Marine officer and that the men of Habacon were "neophytes" in vote rigging. Kyamko was Southcom chief during the May 2004 presidential election, while Habacon and Gudani were assigned in the Lanao provinces.
Last year, just days before his retirement, Gudani and another Marine officer, Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan, testified before the Senate about instances of election fraud that they claimed they knew of personally.
While Cruz cited the "chain of command" principle in refusing to disclose the Mayuga report on Thursday, his undersecretary, Rafael Santos, told the House public information committee on Tuesday that Executive Order (EO) 464 prohibits the defense-military establishment from turning over a copy of the report.
The controversial EO, which the President issued several months ago, bans Cabinet members and other bureaucrats, including ordinary soldiers and policemen, from appearing at congressional hearings, particularly Senate investigations. The Senate has challenged the constitutionality of the presidential issuance before the Supreme Court.