House break-in: Conflicting stories

MANILA, Philippines - Two witnesses gave conflicting testimonies yesterday at the initial hearing of the House fact-finding committee on the alleged break-ins staged by police personnel at the Batasan compound in January 2005.

House Deputy Secretary-General Artemio Adasa told the committee that he and security personnel of the chamber investigated the supposed transgression in September, eight months after it allegedly happened.

He said he invited representatives of the Supreme Court as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal and then election lawyer and now Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes, who was the counsel of the late opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and his running mate, Sen. Loren Legarda.

“We found no signs of a break-in in the area in the south wing of the Batasan building, which was enclosed with plywood and chicken wire and where ballot boxes were stored. We found the locks and seals in the ballot boxes intact,” he said.

He said based on their findings in their examination of the storage area and the ballot boxes, they concluded that “the alleged break-in did not possibly happen.”

Adasa informed the committee that he inquired from House security personnel if there was close-circuit TV camera footage of the night of Jan. 23, 2005, when the first raid on the Batasan compound supposedly took place.

He said he was told that the House security noted nothing unusual in the camera tapes, which they then reused.

The House official’s testimony conflicted with that of Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago, who insisted that he led a police team in raiding the Batasan compound on the night of Jan. 23 and three more nights after that to switch genuine election returns with fake ones.

Santiago said his superior, Marcelino Franco, former head of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF), ordered him to escort the group of “El Bello,” reportedly a son of Roque Bello of the Comelec, who was to do the switching. He said it was former public works secretary and now Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane who recruited Bello.

He said he met with Ebdane, Franco and Bello at a coffee shop near a mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City shortly before the first raid.

He added that they coordinated their entry into the Batasan with Ferdinand Ortega, the head of the SAF unit guarding the compound.

The fact-finding committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada, found out during the hearing that there were only two roving House guards on the first night that the Santiago and Bello groups entered the Batasan.

“Were they roving or snoring?” Deputy Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, a member of the panel, asked, eliciting laughter from kibitzers who crowded the hearing room.

Fariñas, who did most of the questioning for the committee, said he found Santiago’s testimony to be “consistent” with the statements the police officer had given to the Department of Justice.

“I think he is credible,” he said.

He asked Santiago what they would have done if they encountered roving House guards or other personnel during their break-ins.

“I don’t know, your honor,” Santiago responded.

He said one of their apprehensions was that House guards who were sleeping in a room near the storage area for ballot boxes would be awakened and discover what they were doing. Luckily, he said no one woke up.  

Tannada said they would invite other witnesses to verify the testimonies of Adasa and Santiago.