FINAL REPORT - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

court-martial for having defied E.O. 464 75 , Atty. Samuel Ong is under threat of arrest
purportedly for violation of the Anti-Wiretapping Law, and T/Sgt. Vidal Doble was
compelled to recant because of pressure upon him and his family from the ISAFP.
Incidentally, to public knowledge, Atty. Ong is the only person threatened with
arrest 76 , even as millions of Filipinos (Senators and Representatives included) will have
also violated the Anti-Wiretapping law (with Presidential Spokesman Bunye as the
very first offender last June 6, 2005) – for having listened to, or played, or procured
copies of, or distributed or circulated the Garci Tapes or at least a portion thereof – if
the latter’s contents are genuine conversations that have really been wiretapped. On
the other hand, a candid appreciation of the nature, tenor, motive and details of
T/Sgt. Doble’s alleged recantation, together with the explanation of his former
girlfriend Marieta Santos, nevertheless leads us to conclude that the Garci Tapes are
genuine, specially as certain of Doble’s sworn Senate statements (to supposedly
reaffirm the recantation) humongously defy basic logic -- for instance, when Sgt. Doble
admitted the transfer to his possession of P2 million (from the possesson of Atty.
Samuel Ong) but at the same time denied receipt thereof, then mightily tried to explain
the mystery by saying that while it was given to him he did not receive it, and then
saying that even as he did receive the gargantuan amount he does not know at all why
it was given to him in the first place.
Even as the administration’s very own Justice Secretary has already admitted
that the root of this nation’s destabilization is the continued and continuing nonresolution
of the crisis of the Garci Tapes which casts doubt on the legitimacy of the
President’s mandate, President Arroyo took time (since October, 2005) to release the
Mayuga Report 77 . And when finally released, it was timed on April 12, 2006, Holy
Wednesday 78 , and then only to absolve AFP generals Esperon, Habacon and Kyamko,
despite overwhelming evidence on their complicity.
Worse, it had the gall to include Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani as among those
charged with irregularity – when Brig. Gen. Gudani is precisely the officer and
gentleman who exposed the illegal machinations in Lanao del Sur that the
successor of AFP Chief of Staff Generoso Senga. Arturo Lomibao, on the other hand, was appointed Chief of the
Philippine National Police on March 14, 2005. Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon is now the Southern Command chief,
taking over from now retired Lt. General Roy Kyamko, who held the post during the 2004 elections. On the other
hand, since 2005, Col. Pirino has been the commander of the Armed Forces Reserve Command headquartered in
Pagadian. (“Lanao’s Dirty Secrets,” Sheila S. Coronel (with additional reporting by Booma C. Cruz and “The Probe
Team”), PCIJ i Report, November-December 2005, pp. 6-11)
75
tsn, hearing of Senate Committee On National Defense And Security, Aliccatimbang 1-1, April 3, 2006
76
As recounted in the timeline, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez declared in an interview, after the NBI had filed
sedition charges against Samuel Ong on June 15, 2005, that wiretapping charges will follow, saying: “I’ll stake my
reputation here.” (see p. 9)
77
We cannot help but point out that this pattern of delayed reporting and response, on the very matters that require
strict and utmost accountability to the Filipino people, exacerbates suspicions of whitewash and sanitizing for damage
control. This pattern is manifest in President Arroyo’s June 27, 2004 apology, and Garcillano’s and Bolante’s evasion
of legislative inquiry.
78
perhaps quite strategically, as part of “news management,” Rep. Roilo Golez has commented. (newscast, ANC,
April 12, 2006)
176