FINAL REPORT - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

Some opposition sources sat that Doble was paid P2 million by the Erap
camp (as the ISAFP agent himself confirmed to the police when he was
put under investigation). The CIDG says there is a paper trail of the
money, as Doble used it to purchase, among other things, a motor
vehicle. Ong was also supposedly paid for his efforts. Whether other
ISAFP agents or officers were also paid is unknown. It is possible they
were because intelligence sources say Doble could not possibly have had
the access to the whole three-hour wiretaps; at most, he could copy only
those conversations that he himself has recorded and annotated.
Through Ong, copies of the wiretapped conversations eventually found
their way to various members of the opposition. Both Lacson (who has
more or less severed his relations with Estrada) and former Sen.
Francisco “Kit” Tatad say their copies arrived by courier in April. One
copy also got into the hands of former Estrada lawyer Alan Paguia, who
then proceeded to mint his own version, picking out only the juiciest
parts of the three-hour recording and adding his own, overly dramatic
narration, on top of them.” 7
Samuel Ong
The foregoing story is authenticated on its major points by former NBI Deputy
Director Atty. Samuel Ong himself, the man who went public on June 10, 2005 with
the “mother of all tapes” on the heels of the June 6, 2005 press conference at which
Presidential spokesman Bunye had presented the tale of the two tapes. 8
Following this June 10 exposé, the PNP charged Ong with serious illegal
detention, i.e., that he had kidnapped and detained T/Sgt. Vidal Doble at the San
Carlos Seminary. A warrant of arrest was subsequently issued. To counter the
charges, Ong executed an affidavit, dated August 10, 2005, which affidavit he later
submitted by letter to the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security at the
hearing of December 8, 2005.
Illegal Detention Charges Against Samuel Ong
In this affidavit, Ong recounts how he learned that the ISAFP had wiretapped
telephone conversations between Garcillano and President Arroyo showing the rigging
of the 2004 presidential elections in favor of Arroyo; how T/Sgt. Vidal Doble, a member
of the ISAFP wiretapping team, had given him copy of these tapes; how he gave
donations amounting to P1 million for Doble’s security; and how, thereafter fearing for
their lives, he, Doble, Santiago (the ISAFP intermediary), and Marieta Santos (who
7
“The Tale of the Tangled Tapes,” Sheila Coronel, PCIJ i Report Special Edition (Year 2005)”
8
It was at this press conference that Spokesman Bunye announced the existence of a “destabilization plot” arising
from tape recordings of genuine conversations between President Arroyo and a “political leader” which were spliced
to make it appear that they were rigging the 2004 elections. [Please see June 6, 2005 in timeline under “Continuing
and Continued Deception and Cover-Up”]
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