He couldn't say if it was his voice on the tape.
"I do not even remember such conversations," sabi ni Garci. Of course, that's different from saying na he never made those statements.
Sagot sa Jeopardy question kay GMA: "Benjamin Abalos"
Who's the COMELEC official Arroyo admitted talking to during the last election in her "apology"?
Go find out why. ;)
Some of the pro-Arroyo sympathizers (you know you are) are claiming na brilliant raw ang strategy ni Garcillano na damayin ang opposition, na nakipag-usap rin raw sila kay garci boy. But I predicted na that's what would happen back in july 8, 2005 pa!
Since it is looking more and more na guilty talaga si GMA, nag-iba na naman ang tactic ng Admin. Instead of focusing on GMA's defense, they instead tried to implicate the opposition in the cheating scandal by claiming that some opposition members talked to COMELEC officials too.
But there's nothing really wrong with talking to a COMELEC official per se. I mean, kanino ka pa ba lalapit kung may complaints ka or may election dispute kang gustong ipa-settle? Kanino ka lalapit kung mayroon kang inquiries or election-related questions na gustong mong malinawan?
Kaya nga most people didn't take GMA's "apology" very seriously, kasi she apologized only for "talking" to a COMELEC official. Well, we're not asking her to resign because she "talked" to Garci. We're asking her to resign because she conspired with a COMELEC official and the military to rig the elections.
(At hindi lang naman yung tape ang ebidensiya na may dayaan eh. The opposition has accumulated plenty of evidence of massive election fraud during the vote canvassing, pero binaliwala lang ito ng mga administration allies ni Arroyo. The opposition asked for a recount, but Mr. Pangilinan and Mr. Raul Gonzales denied their request more than 200 times by repeating the line "Noted, noted, noted.")
So even if some in the opposition (or administration) may have talked to Abalos et al, unless there is credible evidence that they discussed re illegally increasing their vote totals with Garci or talked about abducting a whistleblower to prevent him from talking, then wala ring kwenta ang "damay tactics" ng arroyo administration.
Of course, if any opposition candidate was discovered to have coordinated or discussed with Garci re rigging the elections to ensure their victory, then they too will have to resign.
But even if assuming na some of the opposition were caught cheating in the tapes, it still doesn't make Gloria Macapagal Arroyo any less guilty. It may have put some of the opposition on the defensive, pero buking pa rin si GMA.
At best, the admin allies may have muddled the GLORIAGATE issue more with this tactic, just like when Bunye presented the "original" and "spliced" tapes para lituin ang publiko.
Man, ako ba ang nagsulat nyan back in July? LOL. Kasi my posts have been crappy lately eh (thanks for bringing it to my attention, DJB.)
But I don't know if this strategy of smearing the opposition is really all that effective.
Lacson said he would file perjury charges against Mr. Garcillano:
Lacson said he would file perjury charges against Garcillano. "As I had anticipated yesterday, Garcillano lied under oath to serve the interests of his handlers and his principal, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."
"I would like to reiterate: I never called him up or contacted him much less sought or attempted to set an appointment with him anytime before, during and after the 2004 elections," Lacson added.
I know, i know, may mga anti-lacson na nagbabasa ng blog ko. But on this issue of who called or contacted who -- who should we believe? Garcillano or Lacson. (I believe dinamay ni Garci si Lacson dahil isa siya sa mga top candidates na tatakbo sa bagong special election once arroyo is out of power.)
Who do we believe? Golez or Garcillano? Ito ang comment ni Roilo Golez nung nalaman niya na dinamay siya ni Garci boy.
Maging si Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez na tinukoy rin ni Garcillano na isa sa 20 congressmen na tumawag sa kanya ay galit na galit at sinabing nandadamay na lamang at nagba-black propaganda ang dating election commissioner.
"The statement of Garcillano including my name as among those who allegedly personally or by phone talked to him is crazy. I did not know him from Adam prior to this Garci tape controversy, don’t remember ever meeting him, unless he was with Comelec Chairman (Benjamin) Abalos du-ring Comelec public briefing on computerization for NCR candidates conducted in the Comelec session hall sometime in Jan-Feb 2004," ani Golez.
More from Richard Gordon:
Gordon said Garcillano might be "hallucinating." "I have never met the guy [before the elections]."
"I met him in February 2005 when he was lobbying that his CA [Commission on Appointments] appointment be affirmed. [There's] nothing wrong with that. I have never met him. He must be hallucinating. Siguro natataranta na sya [He must be frazzled]," he told reporters.
Gordon said the mention of his name made Garcillano's testimony "incredible."
Asked about Garcillano's possible motive for naming him, Gordon said, "Medyo [It's a bit] malicious nga."
"To divert attention from others, he [Garcillano] is giving out names that could create a headline. It's either [one] of two things. Number one, it's an honest mistake. Number two, it's a smokescreen, squid tactics."
So, isa pang Senator na associated with the Arroyo admin ang pumalag. Hallucinating raw si Garci, LOL. Strong words. Again, who has more credibility on this (or any) issue? Richard Gordon or Master Cheater Virgilio Garcillano?
And here's Jamby's reaction nung dinamay siya:
"I do not know Mr. Garcillano personally. I did not call [him] personally," Madrigal said.
"In one of the political meetings I was having long before the actual elections, somebody passed to me the phone, and to my surprise told me that it was Commissioner Garcillano on the other line," she said.
"I did not ask Mr. Garcillano for anything. I did not attempt to exert influence over him," she said.
Madrigal said she was willing to have her "respectable and respectably achieved" mandate scrutinized.
More on the reactions of the other named here.
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Dean Jorge Bocobo said the Supreme Court will now rule in favor of Garcillano na inadmissible raw ang wire-tapped tapes sa korte. That's okay, Dean.
We kinda expected that anyway from Carpio's Supreme Court, even if the gave this throwaway decision just to make them look "impartial".
Already, there are perceived indications that when the impeachment case goes to the high court, the Gloria-appointed justices will be ruling in Gloria's favor whether upholding the majority's acts or even throwing the case back to the House for Congress to decide on it, while claiming this to be beyond them, being a political question is explosive enough to start the street fires going.
But the indications are there. Just a few weeks ago, the high court ruled on a libel case, saying a video or an audiotape — which was not even illegally wiretapped — is inadmissible as evidence unless the tape is first authenticated by the proper persons, which would be the media outfit, which would hardly do it for the accuser. This, incidentally, was the ruling being used by the majority to dismiss the complaint on substance.
Meaning, the video should be authenticated by the one who made the tape, which would be the media outfit. But why would this media outfit help authenticate their own tapes for the accuser when yung accuser mismo ang nag-file ng libel case laban sa kanila.
Or why would ISAFP authenticate the tapes when delikado yan sa boss nila? And Vidal Doble is a lost cause now because Soc Villegas backstabbed him and handed the guy over to ISAFP's "rescue team." Bumaliktad na si Doble ala Udong Mahusay.
I love this part from de Quiros:
At the very most, we have at the other side concrete evidence Arroyo cheated. The veracity of the “Hello Garci” tape remains undisputed to this day, Mike Defensor’s defense having been refuted by the very expert he cited. True, that evidence cannot be used in court because it was illegally obtained, but that only means Arroyo can’t be jailed on that basis, it doesn’t mean she can’t be ousted on that basis.
True.
loved this part too:
Garci may be free to regale the world with tales of pirates and cutthroats, but Gen. Francisco Gudani and Col. Alexander Balutan may not be allowed to speak their truth. Who is Garcillano? He is someone who, by his own avowal, cut his teeth (into its shark-like formation) with Leonardo Perez, Marcos’ chief counter of votes and plebiscite results. Who are Gudani and Balutan? They are military officers who have forged a reputation of being honest men in a dishonest world. Balutan in particular lives with six children in a modest apartment, while Garcillano lives with who knows whom in who knows where surrounded by high walls and bodyguards. Where are they now? Garci is in Manila, where he enjoys pelf and privilege as the official tirador, while Gudani and Balutan are under arrest and awaiting court martial for saying their piece.
Santiago, a self-proclaimed constitutional expert, calls that law and due process. Imagine a basketball game where one player is exempt from foul, where a replay about his "pambabalya" [body contact] can’t be seen because it is inadmissible, where the crowd that witnessed his atrocities is forbidden to speak, and you get an idea of where we are. And that is called fair play.
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Dean also wrote in his latest post:
If proven, as I've said before, such illegal wiretapping activities are tantamount to high treason and ought to be punished as such for prostituting the Military to selfish political purposes. There will surely be a regime change around here if it is next proven that that "higher up" was the Palace's occupant.
But what if the "higher ups" are neither the "Palace's Occupant" (that would be GMA herself) or the Opposition but somebody else inside the admin, R.O.E.? Paano kung si Rear Adm. Tirso Danga ang umutos ng wiretapping? Paano kung yung isa sa malapit kay Arroyo ang gumawa niyan (can't imagine who it is ;) )?
Tuloy pa rin ba ang "regime change", kuya?
UPDATE: For the latest on Garci and GLORIAGATE, go to PCIJ blog. Maganda ang coverage nila. Lalo na itong latest:
-- Dagdag-bawas, Lanao style
In his Senate testimony today, Lucman said that the lead man for the Lanao del Sur operations was sharia’ah court judge Nagamura Moner, who was supposedly receiving instructions from Mr. Arroyo and Philippine Ports Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi.
But Moner, who also testified at the Senate, denied these charge, saying only that Cusi gave him P200,000 last May to monitor election results in Muslim Mindanao. Moner had previously prepared an affidavit confirming the vote-padding operations for President Arroyo, but today he told the Senate that his lawyer had tricked him into signing that affidavit. (That original affidavit is here.
Senators had a field day punching holes in Moner’s testimony, especially after his lawyer played a tape where the Lanao judge detailed how the “special operations” went. They were obviously incredulous as Moner recounted how Cusi had sent a helicopter to take the judge to Sulu and Tawi-Tawi shortly after election day just to ask whether the voting was going in President Arroyo’s favor. Moner told the disbelieving senators that he never talked to election officers there, but merely asked tricycle drivers and ordinary people who was winning in the count.
More from Ernie Maceda:
In his opening testimony, former poll official Virgilio Garcillano admitted that GMA and he had talked and, in addition, he named Senators Loren Legarda, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jamby Madrigal, Fred Lim, Richard Gordon, Mar Roxas and Panfilo Lacson and 20 congressmen as having called him or talked to him personally.
Upon questioning by Minority Leader Francis Escudero, he also clarified that none of those who talked to him was asking for anything illegal or improper.
It was, therefore, made clear early that Garcillano came out to defend GMA by his blanket clearance of everybody who called him.
In short, he is saying even if GMA and 27 other candidates called or talked to him, there was no cheating involved. If that is the gist of Garcillano's testimony, then there's no closure.
It is noteworthy that when Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin asked Garcillano specifically if any of those named asked him to do something illegal or improper, Garcillano hedged and refused to answer “unless the particular person who called gives him permission to reveal what they had talked about.” Locsin correctly concluded, “I will take your answer to mean that some did request something illegal or irregular.”
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Garci admits. During an interview with Michael Lim Ubac of the Philippine Daily Inquirer where he refused to admit talking to GMA as taped, Garcillano, however, admitted that Sen. Robert Barbers indeed called him with regard to the special elections in Lanao. That conversation was part of the tape played in the House. That proves that the tape is authentic, that one voice is that of Robert Barbers and of course, the other voice on the line is that of then Commissioner Garcillano.
He also claimed to be the victim in the wiretapping. That's correct too. But if he's the victim, then he was wiretapped and the tape is genuine.
The more he speaks, the deeper he gets into his quagmire of lies. His testimony is another case of dagdag-bawas.
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Best quote. From Sen. Panfilo Lacson: “Garcillano may name as many politicians that called him but it does not take away the fact that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated.”
Isn't it providential that Garcillano has come out to testify in Congress on the eve of the 1st death anniversary of FPJ?
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Here it comes. The Energy Regulation Commission has granted National Power Corp. a P12.33-centavo per kilowatt hour rate increase to take effect January 2006. Water rates have also been increased. Inflation is projected by National Economic Development Authority at 9.5 percent for 2006.
More hardships inflicted by the GMA administration.
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Confirmed. It has been revealed that the bodyguards of Garci in Maguindanao are men of gambling lord Bong Pineda, a known supporter and compadre of GMA and the First Gentleman.
As soon as Garci went underground in July, reports filtered in that men of Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane as well as Bong Pineda were providing security for Garci in Tagaytay, Clark and Subic.
Recall that Capt. Marlon Mendoza, Garci's aide the camp, testified that Pineda sent P300 million to Garci during the elections.
Not surprisingly, Ebdane was the first visitor of Garci at his plush Camp Bagong Diwa apartment.
It is clear now that all along, GMA and her people not only knew where Garci was but also assisted him all the way.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) and special prosecutor complain about the cost of providing security for detained President Estrada whenever he requests for a medical or Christmas furlough. But they don't hesitate to provide 200 men to escort Garcillano, a private citizen, to go to the House. Are they admitting that the streets of Metro Manila are that dangerous? Or that Garci may be kidnapped by Ping Lacson? Ha ha!
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Suspicions. After a peaceful two weeks of Southeast Asian Games competition when not a single threat of terrorism was received, suddenly the United States, Singapore and Switzerland embassies are threatened with bombing. Then last night, the PNP reported that shots were fired at the LTA Building which houses the First Gentleman's private office. Is this the start of the long predicted “terrorist” activities first announced by National Security Adviser Secretary Bert Gonzales in October, followed by Sen. Miriam Santiago's warning of an assassination plot against GMA?
Something's wrong here.
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