NBI probe implies that Palace did lie

I got numerous e-mails about the NBI witch-hunt for my sources of the cosmetic procedures Gloria Arroyo had in the guise of post-travel self-quarantine. This one from reader Sandra Varela sums them all up:

“That the NBI is rampaging at Asian Hospital means that your report is true and full, while the biopsy as disclosed by Malacañang is only partial. If it’s true that they already have fully admitted everything, then the matter should be closed and they have no more reason to persecute your sources. But they’re scouring the hospital probably because they need to erase the medical records on her D&C last year for dysfunctional bleeding.”

Hmm, logical.

Meanwhile, two columnists are badmouthing me again for exposing Arroyo’s lying. Maybe they think discerning readers do not know they’re compromised: their spouse and live-in partner are political appointees of Arroyo’s. The least the duo should do is thank me for affording them the chance to make big money. They were among the six writers who in 2007 were each paid P200,000 to mock me for reporting the ZTE scam. I know this because the dirty PR operator brags about who’s in his pocket.

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Totally different were the official reactions to the spate of bombings in Mindanao and Metro Manila. To calm the populace, top generals in the South deftly avoided blaming just any group. Those in the national capital hastily pointed to all the usual suspects, raised red alerts, and announced the next potential targets.

Bombings in Cotabato, Iligan, Jolo, Datu Piang and Kauswagan killed eight and wounded over 50 persons. Mostly Catholic churches and enclaves were attacked, but the UN Food Program suspended deliveries to Muslim evacuees in Maguindanao and Lanao. Fanatics were quick to blame three Islamist extremists: Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf, and Jemaah Islamiyah. But wary of arousing anti-Muslim frenzy, Chief Supt. Bensali Jabarani clarified that probes aren’t over. “Our investigators are still working,” the police chief of the Muslim Autonomous Region assured. “It’s difficult to just point an accusing finger. We cannot go on a fishing expedition against anyone.” For his part, Marines commandant Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino said, “It’s too early to conclude anything.”

Earlier a bomb burst but hurt no one at the Ombudsman’s head office in Quezon City. Explosives were also found at the agriculture department and the First Family’s condo nearby. Obliquely the police blamed these on opposition Sen. Ping Lacson. Days later came the Mindanao bombings. The military placed Metro Manila on red alert. Maj. Gen. Jogy Leo Fojas, capital military chief, disclosed sightings in his jurisdiction of bombers from the three southern Islamist groups. Their possible targets are military camps and Congress, he added. Fojas’s police counterpart went a step further. As if trying to scare Metro Manilans, Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales said that terrorists would bomb protest rallies during the President’s July 27 State of the Nation. This, as militants vowed to mobilize the biggest demonstration ever against Gloria Arroyo. Clearly he just wants everyone to stay home on that day of protest.

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Last June 26 I reported a forgery gang inside the Comelec. Election lawyer Romy Macalintal had stumbled upon it while defending Camarines Norte Gov. Jesus Typoco against protester Edgardo Tallado. Excerpts from Tallado’s extra-long reaction:

“Macalintal’s objective was to undermine the Comelec’s integrity and in the process cast doubts on its decision to declare me the real 2007 winner. A classic case of shooting two birds with one stone.

“I did not know of a forgery syndicate inside the poll body. I am a simple man who took a stab at politics. I do not know the ins and outs of winning elections via cheating or machination. My rival is a three-term governor with full backing from the ruling Lakas party.

“My petition, for correction of manifest error in the statement of votes, was a regular protest that the Comelec must resolve. I presented as evidence documents from the Comelec itself. The 1st division ruled in my favor; Typoco moved for reconsideration by the en banc, which instead upheld the division ruling. Macalintal filed a second motion for recon, prohibited by the rules. He then petitioned the Supreme Court for a TRO. He is muddling the issue to influence the minds of the justices. Contrary to his claims, a petition to correct manifest errors can be filed anytime after discovery thereof.

“From chronology of events in the two Comelec rulings, not once did Typoco confront the Comelec with allegations of spurious documents. They became an issue only when Macalintal entered the picture sometime early this year. The forgery was only a product of his fertile imagination.”

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I congratulated newly installed Makati Rotary Club head Fern Peña in the same column as Arroyo’s cosmetic surgeries. So he feels compelled to clarify: “Lest the NBI think our club is the source of the medical reports, let it be known that we do heart surgeries for children, not breast implants.”

In fact, they’ve subsidized 158 surgeries for indigent kids. All the more, kudos.

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