GMA won’t take Zuce’s dare

President Arroyo in a duster, directing jueteng payoffs? The more he talks, the more dubious he sounds.

At least that’s Malacañang’s impression of jueteng witness Michaelangelo Zuce as it said yesterday it would no longer dignify his allegations against Mrs. Arroyo.

"Quite frankly, one of the observations I made out of his revelation is I do not see how… his claims are to be believed," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a press briefing yesterday as he noted Zuce’s statements linking Mrs. Arroyo to election fraud and jueteng were illogical.

Ermita cited a detail related by Zuce in which the witness claimed the President faced election officials inside her home "wearing only a duster."

"Is that believable? Would you believe that a President like her would come out in a duster? I mean, that’s something, in his (Zuce’s) effort to give too much details to become believable and credible, the more he becomes unbelievable," he said.

Ermita said he could not say whether the President and her lawyers would agree to a request for an "ocular inspection" of her house in La Vista subdivision in Quezon City to determine whether Zuce was telling the truth about certain details.

One thing is certain, though: the President has no interest in taking Zuce’s bait and submitting herself to a lie detector test with the witness, Ermita said.

"(We won’t be) dignifying everything that he says. Can you imagine agreeing to his suggestion that the President take a lie detector test with him?" he asked.

"Hindi ko naman siya minamaliit, napakalaking tao naman ni Zuce (I am not trying to belittle him because Zuce is such a big man), but that is not acceptable," Ermita said, apparently making a pun about the physical build of Zuce.

Ermita further assailed the credibility of the new witness, saying that, although as a former Malacañang staff member, Zuce could have indeed visited the President’s house with his boss, former presidential liaison officer for political affairs Joey Rufino, this does not prove his criminal allegations to be true.

Zuce claims the regional directors of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) were handed envelopes of money by Lilia Pineda, wife of alleged gambling lord from Pampanga Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, in the presence of the President inside her house so that they would cooperate in rigging last year’s election results in favor of Mrs. Arroyo.

"The President had denied this happened and I would believe her rather than Zuce," Ermita said.

Ermita went on to question Zuce’s motive in coming forward, saying he appeared to be in dire need of money.

"A normal person will not do what he did, come out to divulge something, especially against the highest official of the land, (if not for a necessity). He must have done a lot of thinking, he really might have a problem. I just don’t know his real character," he said.

Ermita said the President’s legal team would be readying a suit to file against Zuce, aside from the charges to be filed separately by the Comelec officials he implicated.

"As far as the President is concerned, her legal counsel definitely is making a move and taking care of that matter," he said.

"We should not dignify whistle-blowers too much, especially someone whose character was apparently (deplorable). Can you imagine, you have somebody in your house you got for security or a driver who would just come out and say bad things about you? I mean, what kind of person would you categorize him as?" Ermita said.

He said he has discussed with Malacañang officials the importance of taking care when hiring people, especially those who might take advantage of their position, no matter how low or insignificant, for selfish ends.

Ermita claimed a lowly technical assistant could not have possibly been given delicate assignments as Zuce had claimed, and was unlikely to have even set foot in the home of the President while accompanying his boss.