Michaelangelo Zuce/GLORIAGATE news roundup

- Zuce: If I was bought, I would have paid off debts

- PCIJ: Looking for Louie

THE PCIJ has been tracking down Michaelangelo “Louie” Zuce since mid-June this year, when two sources, a Moro politician based in Mindanao and a former Commission on Elections (Comelec) employee in Manila, told us to look for a nephew of the controversial Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

The nephew, we were told, was “Garci’s” connection to Malacañang, because he worked in the political office there. We were told to hunt down “Louie” because he was a mother lode of information on election fraud in Mindanao...

Read the whole article.

- GLORIA KNOCKOUT KAY ZUCE

- Poll exec bares P50M offer from Garci aide
She was relieved as regional director 4 day before polls

- Tordesillas: Nakonekta ang jueteng at Garci tapes

Read this too from Ducky Paredes.

- and lastly, from Ninez:

Added problems

Thursday, 08 04, 2005

Michaelangelo Zuce, appearing before the Senate panel hearing the jueteng payola issue, has so far proved himself to be a credible witness, which in turn translates to a more worrisome problem for Gloria Arroyo.

As a witness, or resource person of the Senate panel, Zuce impressed the public as a credible one, unafraid of sketching the layout of the Arroyos' La Vista home, as well as the layout of the conference room of alleged jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, and unafraid too, of an ocular visit by the senators. His replies to the senators did not contradict that which he had written in his sworn statement.

But without realizing it, with Malacañang and its demolition team going about their work to destroy Zuce, portraying him not only as a habitual absentee who never did his job efficiently but who was also in financial distress, while concluding that Zuce is a paid witness, they merely made things worse for them.

Yet it must be asked: If he was such incompetent worker, and a habitual absentee, and absolutely unknown to Gloria, he was not only working in Malacañang for some four years, but was even absorbed in another office under the Office of the President, when the office of then presidential political adviser Joey Rufino was abolished.

It is precisely because of this type of demolition job on Zuce that has made the public believe more in the testimony of Zuce than in the Palace aides and all the others — including that former mayor from San Fernando, Masbate, as well as the Rufino statement asking Zuce to retract his testimony.

Before Zuce made his exposé, no one but no one heard of him, and the Palace, to this day, has nothing to show by way of his having been a habitual absentee and can hardly explain why there was no effort to fire him. Not even his lifestyle was placed under check by the presidential anti-graft committee. Yet after his exposé, all too suddenly, there was an undersecretary, who stands as his boss, discrediting him only now and along with Zuce's officemates, all mouthing the same line, stressing of course, that he was in financial distress, all to place importance on his being a paid witness.

And there was the Masbate mayor, a day after Zuce appeared in public, suddenly coming to Manila to hold a press conference, denouncing Zuce for having extorted money from him for his mayoralty win in 2001, which he lost. So why did it take him so long to blurt this out? And why did he not charge Zuce in court then?

Even the statement which Malacañang aides claimed was issued by Rufino from sickbay, was found not just by the media, but also the public as incredible, as it was Gabriel Claudio himself who told the media that Rufino was critically ill. And yet Rufino could prepare such detailed statement, and was even demanding that Zuce retract his testimony.

Would a man who is critically ill even know what is going on in the political front on that very day Zuce came forward with his exposé and was concerned enough for Gloria and Malacañang to issue such statement?

Rufino is no longer working in Malacañang as a political officer. He hasn't been working for Gloria for some time, yet he was concerned enough to issue that statement? And would it have been faxed from a Japanese restaurant on Tomas Morato Street instead of from the hospital where Rufino is confined?

And there was this crap from Malacañang aides claiming they had been speaking, most of the time, through text messages, with Rufino, even days before Zuce came up with his exposé. Gee, what could have been so important to Palace aides to keep in touch with Rufino? If it is because of the Zuce exposé, then it can only mean that Malacañang already knew beforehand that Zuce would come out publicly with his charges, which must have panicked them then.

If not, what then could these Palace aides have by way of business with Rufino, who had been out of the presidential office for some time?

Everything that Gloria and her aides have done to try to discredit all the witnesses who have come forward has only resulted in doing themselves more damage, because the more they try to cover up their crimes, the more the Filipino people get convinced that they are guilty as charged.

They might as well give up. At this point, the people have already made up their minds.

Gloria and her aides have a serious problem.