Defensorgate Roundup

- Malaya: Mike’s spliced tape tale starts to wobble

REBUFFED by his own sound experts, Environment Secretary Michael Defensor’s claims that the "Hello Garci" tapes were spliced started to wobble yesterday even as Malacañang said he is responsible for his own actions.

Defensor, who has been tapped by the Palace as spokesman on the "Hello Garci" controversy, said he never said that US forensics audio expert Barry Dickey had found that the wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and former Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano tapes were spliced.

He said what Dickey said was that there were anomalies in the tape. He said he would call Dickey for "further explanation" on the findings. He expressed hope that someone would sponsor Dickey’s trip to the Philippines so that the expert could explain his findings himself to Filipinos.

Defensor told a press conference Friday the voice on tape was that of President Arroyo but that it was not Arroyo who was talking because the tape was digitally altered to make it sound like the President was engaged in electoral fraud. He said he submitted for analysis two tracks from the tapes.

He was quoted as saying in the conference: "Mr. Dickey says this (tape) should be thrown out into the garbage bin if this is going to be presented as evidence… And these (findings) will be submitted to Congress as formal evidence to junk the impeachment complaint."

Other reports quoted him as saying: "The tapes, as we have clearly shown, have been spliced and I dare the opposition to prove this otherwise."

Dickey clarified in an interview Saturday with the US correspondent of RMN-dzXL that he never said that the tapes were spliced. Dickey said it was Defensor’s local experts who said so.

Jim Sarthou, one of the local sound engineers present during Defensor’s press conference, claimed that he was set up because he was only told that he would participate in a forum on the tapes, and not be presented as someone who would corroborate Defensor’s claims.

Defensor said the tape analysis and press conference were his "own initiative." The press conference looked like a Palace offensive because it was aired live by government radio station Radyo ng Bayan (dzRB) and television station Nation Broadcasting Network (NBN 4) and government sequestered television channels RPN 9 and IBC 13.

Defensor said he was "challenged" by the bet that he had with the opposition, where he claimed that he and President Arroyo would resign if it is proven that Arroyo said "yung dagdag, yung dagdag" in the wiretapped conversations. He said Arroyo said "binalbag."

Opposition leaders vowed they would resign from their positions if Arroyo the tapes were found to have been tampered.

Defensor also said he would not use Jonathan Tiongco, a local disc jockey turned sound expert, as witness in the impeachment process. He said he would only use Dickey’s findings.

Tiongco, one of the panelists in Defensor’s press briefing, has a string of cases against him and was described by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile as "may sayad."

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita refused to comment on whether Defensor’s fresh attempt to defend Arroyo was good or bad for the President.

Ermita only said that "anything lifted from a wiretapped tape is inadmissible as evidence under RA 4200."

And Rep. Cayetano dared Defensor to not back out of his earlier "winner-take-all" challenge

Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (NP, Taguig-Pateros), spokesman for the opposition’s impeachment team, reiterated his challenge for Defensor to make the President sign a Voluntary Truth Test (VTT) undertaking as proof that she would resign if it was her voice on the tape based on the finding of a voice authentication firm acceptable to both parties.

"The voluntary truth test is a fair, expeditious and the constitutional way of resolving this crisis. If tape is fake, not only will pro-impeachment congressmen resign but we will even serve the government for free under an Arroyo administration," Cayetano said.

More:

Former Sen. Francisco Tatad, the source of the three-hour tape submitted by lawyer Alan Paguia to the House, said the tape was previously authenticated by American and Australian experts, and by Arroyo herself on June 27 when she admitted and apologized for her participation in the conversations that had been tape-recorded.

Tama si Kit Tatad. The tapes have been authenticated twice already -- in the US by Tatad and in Australia by Lacson.
- Conrad de Quiros thanks Mike Defensor for reminding the people re the "Hello Garci" tapes again.

- I agree with Nap re Defensor and say bullshit to Malacanang's claim that they have nothing to do with "splice boy's" stunt.

Dapat mag-resign na Defensor sa DENR if he doesn't have time for it and focus on his "real job" instead, that of defending Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

- If you haven't read it yet, here's a must read article from PCIJ entitled “Anomalies” in Dickey’s analysis explained

FROM the looks of it, the two tracks that environment secretary Michael Defensor submitted to American audio forensic expert Barry Dickey for analysis may not have come from the Paguia tape as he claims.

READ. THE. WHOLE. THING.

- And Ellen Tordesillas makes a good point.

In that press conference, Defensor also demonstrated how a conversation can be digitally altered by making the public hear Arroyo saying "Will FPJ lead by one million?". In the Hello Garci tape, she was heard asking Garcillano, "So, will I still lead by more than one M, overall?"

I will not put it past Arroyo to record that "Will FPJ lead by one million?" just to make it appear that her conversations can be tampered with. It’s obvious that Malacañang was behind Defensor’s Dickey/Tiongco presentation, which was a continuation of the Chavit Singson and RJ Jacinto’s X-tapes. The purpose is to convince the public that that the Hello Garci tapes was digitally produced.

Maybe one can do that for a short conversation, but the whole three hours, involving more than 70 persons? How about the incidents at the places and on the dates mentioned that matched with the conversations? The Rashma Hali kidnapping. The Panguntaran mess up of election results by Gen. Gabriel Habacon. The case of Sultan Kudarat gubernational candidate Angel Montilla which was the subject of the call of former Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy, Jr. No one, especially the opposition who cannot even put their act together, could have done that.

The problem of Malacañang is that truth is not on their side. That’s why all their attempts to pre-empt and to discredit the Hello Garci tapes have boomeranged.

- Neal Cruz piles on and asks: What the hell is wrong with Mike Defensor?

Mike’s caper does look like an act of desperation. It is incredible why he wasted time and money (taxpayers’ money appropriated to his department?) to fly to the United States and hire an American sound technician to examine tapes that—their source himself, Paguia, admitted—were edited.

The tapes were taken by Paguia from an original that played at least three hours long—the tape supposedly now with former NBI Deputy Director Sammy Ong. Paguia said he edited it and provided a narration to make the listener understand the contents better. Therefore, any technician will find them “not authentic.” Elementary. Any damn fool will know that. Except Mike.

- And last but not the least, from the Malaya Editorial:

Defensor’s challenge goes to the heart of the issue: He said the opposition should withdraw the impeachment complaint before the House if it could be proven that the "Hello Garci" tapes were "spliced," meaning the voice of Gloria was inserted in the conversations with former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

The opposition was quick to accept the challenge.

And if there is still "palabra de honor" in this world, it would easy enough to agree on how the authenticity of the tapes could be established. Both sides would agree on which version of the tapes should be analyzed and who would be in the best position, taking into account technical capability and impartiality, to undertake the testing.

In fact, such a proposal is nothing new. Defensor himself issued the same challenge last month which was promptly accepted by the opposition. The minority in the House had even prepared an undertaking known as the "Voluntary Truth Test." If the tapes would prove to be authentic, Gloria Arroyo would resign. If otherwise, the opposition legislators would resign.

The Palace, through Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and PMS chief Rigoberto Tiglao, however, disowned Defensor’s challenge. The Palace said the presidency is not to be trivialized by making it an object of wagering. The Palace, of course, was being disingenuous. The question is whether the tapes are authentic or not. There are two possible outcomes, a situation where it is perfectly valid to place a wager.

There is nothing trivial in letting Gloria’s hold to power ride on whether she cheated or not. Such is, in fact, the least messy solution to the leadership crisis the country is in.

The most probable scenario in the House is that the justice committee will declare the tapes as inadmissible as evidence. It will come out with a finding dismissing the impeachment complaint. In the plenary, the arms of pro-Gloria solons will be twisted or, alternatively, their pockets will be stuffed with cash. The complaint dies with the failure of a minority to come up with the one-third vote to overrule the justice panel’s recommendation.

We’ll be back then to where we started. There will be renewed calls for Gloria’s ouster, this time with the additional indictment of her and her allies covering up the truth behind the tapes.

She will have gained time. But sooner or later she will have to go. Why prolong the agony? And by that we do not mean Gloria’s, which she deserves, but the people’s who ought to go on with their lives under a leadership they respect and trust.

Exactly.

UPDATE:

- JB Baylon says Bunye now has a new parter:

TO Secretary Ignacio Bunye I relay a Ninoy Aquinoesque message: hindi ka nag-iisa. You can now welcome tape expert Mike Defensor into your "obstructionists of justice" league.

To obstruct justice is what the erstwhile environment secretary did the other day when he tried to again be the "bida" in this beleaguered administration by trotting out so-called experts and citing an American one in an attempt to once and for all destroy the credibility of the "Hello Garci" tapes. But, as in any "too late the hero" attempts, the opposite was achieved: tape expert Mike has simply revived the "Hello Garci" issue, an issue the Malacañang propaganda machine had long been laboring to bury in the inside pages of most newspapers and in the distant memory of the concerned public.

Thank you, Secretary Mike. Because of your efforts, I am urging all UP students who still haven’t heard the original Garci tapes to find a copy and listen — yes, even to all three hours of it — because it is their bounden duty as scholars of the people to be informed of the high crimes that are committed in their name. (In fact maybe it is time the NTC stop threatening TV and radio stations and come down on the side of truth for once by allowing the playing of the Garci tapes? But I digress.)

- Tape expert ni Mike, extortionist -- Jinggoy

Lalo pang natanggalan ng maskara ang iprinisintang tape expert ni Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Mike Defensor na nagsasabing peke at dinoktor ang "Hello Garci" tape matapos ibisto ni Sen. Jinggoy Estrada ang umano’y pagkatao nito.

Matapos pagtawanan ng ilang miyembro ng Upper House ang tape expert ni Defensor, hindi napigilan ni Estrada na ibisto ang pagkatao ni Jonathan Tiongco bilang mangongotong o extortionist patunay ang makailang beses umano na paglapit sa kanyang opisina para manghingi ng malaking pera.

Sa rekoleksyon ni Estrada, humigit-kumulang 10 beses dumalaw sa kanyang opisina si Tiongco at inaalok ang serbisyo para ibagsak ang kredibilidad ni Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Unang inalok ni Tiongco ang sarili sa kanyang opisina, ayon kay Estrada nang maisalang sa kumpirmasyon ng Commission on Appointments (CA) ang nominasyon ni Reyes kung saan miyembro ang inang si Sen. Luisa "Dra. Loi" Ejercito Estrada.

"Kung anu-anong bintang ang ipinupukol niya kay Reyes. Hindi ko pinatulan kasi nakakapagduda iyong kanyang mga impormasyon. Saka nanghihingi ng pera," ani Estrada sa panayam ng TONITE.

Maging ang kanyang chief of staff (COS) na si dating Nueva Ecija Congressman Simeon Garcia, ayon kay Estrada nilapitan ni Tiongco para hingan ng P200,000, kapalit ang pagbibigay ng impormasyon laban kay Reyes.

Ang matinding rebelasyon ni Estrada ay makailang-beses umano itong tinatawagan sa cellular phone at i-text ni Tiongco tungkol sa panghihingi ng pera hanggang tuluyang nagalit nang balewalain ang mga request nito.

Nang walang pumapansin kay Tiongco, nagsimula na aniyang guluhin ng tape expert ni Defensor ang kanyang opisina, katulad ang pagpapadala ng masasamang mensahe at pananakot.