Pattern of coverup continues

From the Tribune editorial:

Gloria Arroyo and her congressional lapdogs had better think more than twice in junking the amended impeachment complaint, largely perceived by the public as the strongest case brought against the Malacañang incumbent.

They got away with their railroading ways in denying the Filipino people's search for truth though legitimate means twice and a third time may just be the last straw for a people ready to take the extra-constitutional route in getting rid of a clearly unwanted and unwelcome President and her government.

The first time Gloria and her allies forcibly suppressed the electoral truth was during the congressional canvassing, where, through the tyranny of numbers, both her Senate and House allies rejected any and all calls from the minority to return to the source election documents, in questioning the authenticity of specific certificates of canvass.

Instead, they, led by now Justice Secretary Gonzalez for the House and Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, deliberately suppressed the electoral truth by merely noting the objections, earning for themselves the tag of Messrs. Noted.

The second time Gloria and her allies, now aided by the Davide Court, killed the truth was when the high court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the electoral protest of the late Fernando Poe Jr. even as his widow appealed to the PET to continue with the protest, not for her to benefit by it, but for the greater objective of arriving at the electoral truth, for the people's benefit.

The Davide Court then ruled that the protest had to be dismissed, as Susan Roces was not the party in interest, a turnaround of the ruling by the same high court on the Davide impeachment complaint, where the SC trashed the complaint lodged by a congressman, who was certainly not the party in interest, since that party was specifically Hilario Davide Jr., Chief Justice.

In between these two strikes at suppressing the truth, there were other blatant instances where Gloria and her aides tried to kill the truth, such as the time when the presidential mouthpiece presented to the media two versions of the Hello Garci tapes, with Malacañang clearly covering up the crime of Gloria in poll-rigging through the vote padding, vote shaving scheme through a clearly doctored version which the Palace claimed to be the “original.”

The Bunye tape is definitely hard evidence to substantiate charges of official cover-up and obstruction of justice.

Not content with having committed such crimes, Malacañang again, this time through Environment Secretary Michael Defensor, presented yet another tape where, misusing the analysis content of a US forensic audio expert, claimed that the Hello Garci tapes were doctored, and by the opposition.

What Defensor does not disclose is the fact that there was the deliberate intent on the part of Gloria and her aides to send another Malacañang-doctored Hello Garci tape version to Barry Dickey, precisely to get him to state that the two tracks that had been doctored by Malacañang were anomalous.

Already, the local sound experts whom Defensor presented as his local experts, have debunked claims made by the Environment chief and his paid witness, Jonathan Tiongco, known more for his expertise in fabricating evidence.

Now comes the looming Strike Three, with the justice committee ready to trash the amended impeachment complaint submitted by the minority in the House, with the allies of Gloria ready to serve her, and their selfish personal interests, with no thought given to the public's cry for truth.

The dangerous and explosive mix for street justice is present.

Resignation calls on Gloria Arroyo have been muted with the steps taken by the minority to take the legal and constitutional route of impeachment.

Gloria and her allies should be reminded that impeachment is the last legal and constitutional route to remove an unwanted President who is moreover regarded by at least 80 percent of the Filipinos as an illegitimate President, having stolen the presidency twice.

Deny the Filipino people that last route by railroading the dismissal of the amended complaint and expect them to take to the streets. And at the losing end will be Gloria, her aides and her congressional allies because they will have been swallowed up by a revolt that is waiting to happen.