Arroyo relieves Manapat

President Arroyo has relieved Ricardo Manapat as director of the Records Management and Archives Office (RMAO) following the controversy on the alleged forgery of official documents relating to the citizenship of presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr.

The President immediately designated Marietta Chou, division chief of the RMAO, to take over as officer-in-charge of the agency.

Manapat filed his official leave of absence a day after he was denounced at a Senate hearing for allegedly ordering three archives employees to come up with forged birth and marriage certificates of Poe to be presented to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by private lawyers in support of the disqualification case filed against the movie actor.

Mrs. Arroyo issued an official statement yesterday promising to act swiftly against anyone found guilty of producing forged documents against Poe.

"We shall give serious weight to the final recommendations of the Senate and prosecute any wrongdoers," the President said. "We will not hesitate to take firm action. No one is above the law."

Mrs. Arroyo’s action on Manapat came after opposition senators led by Poe’s campaign manager, Sen. Vicente Sotto III, formally sought the removal of the archives chief.

Aside from the Senate’s investigation into the questioned documents, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye disclosed that Manapat would also face other investigations, particularly other complaints filed against him by archives employees, who testified at the Senate hearing.

Bunye renewed the President’s appeal to the political opposition to settle the citizenship issue against Poe at the proper forum without political hysterics.

"Let the Senate investigation ferret out the truth on all the issues surrounding the controversy," Bunye said.

Meanwhile, official presidential campaign spokesman Michael Defensor expressed the willingness of the Palace as well as the administration ticket to tap a third party or independent body to help authenticate the documents.

"This is not a debate of political parties but a question of documents. If there are accusations that these documents were faked, this is not for debate. There is an investigation taking place and let’s make the process apolitical and show proof of Mr. Poe’s citizenship," Defensor said.

"I can assure you that Malacañang will ensure the prosecution if and when there are people who faked the documents," he added.

Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drilon called for the immediate resignation of Manapat.

"At this point, the public may have lost its confidence in him. The public may not feel comfortable about Mr. Manapat’s continued custody of records in the Archives as there are sensitive documents there," Drilon said.

"Manapat can do a lot of damage to our records," Sotto said, noting that he received information from employees of the National Archives that their embattled chief "took out 12 bundles of files yesterday morning."

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Poe’s opposition presidential rival, also joined the call for the resignation of Manapat, saying that if indeed the archives chief manufactured the pieces of evidence against Poe, he should not stay a minute longer in his post.

"This is something we, as a nation, cannot forgive. If you have to manufacture evidence just to disqualify a presidential candidate, then you have no basis staying in government," he said.

John O Links FVR

For his part, Sen. John Osmeña linked former President Fidel V. Ramos to the controversy, saying that since Manapat is a Ramos man, he has something to do with the forgery.

Speaking over radio station dzMM, Osmeña claimed that Ramos used Manapat to demolish his 1992 presidential election rival, businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., founder of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

He added that in the 1998 elections, Ramos’ national security adviser, Jose Almonte, also allegedly used Manapat to destroy then presidential aspirant and former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, whom complainants accused of being a Chinese citizen.

Three days before the elections, the Comelec declared Lim as a natural-born Filipino citizen and therefore qualified to seek the presidency.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, who was Lim’s vice presidential running mate, said he believes Almonte is behind Manapat.

"But I suspect the famous Carpio Villaraza law firm is also involved in this," he said.

The law firm counts among its clients Mrs. Arroyo and her controversial husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. It even holds offices at the Arroyo family-owned LTA Building in Makati City.

"And now FVR is at it again. Laro nila ito, walang kinalaman si Gloria dito. (This is FVR’s game, Gloria has nothing to do with it)," John Osmeña, who is running for re-election under the administration K-4 slate, said.

Asked what the former president’s motive might be, the senator said "Ramos is destabilizing the situation in the hope that the military would intervene and take over and return him to power."

Ramos, a former defense minister, spent most of his public life in the military.

At Malacañang, Defensor dismissed the tirades of Osmeña against Ramos, who is chairman emeritus of Mrs. Arroyo’s Lakas-CMD party, which is also part of the ruling coalition,

"John O is with us and FVR is also with us. I mean, we’re not hitting the opposition. It’s an internal thing that’s coming out," Defensor said.

According to Defensor, this only goes to show that the 12-member administration senatorial ticket is "not homogenic."

These senators are entitled to their own statements, he said.

Presidential contender Raul Roco, however, said that Malacañang also stands to benefit in the event that Poe is disqualified from the presidential race.

"Who will benefit from this? The first one that will benefit is Malacañang because it is said that they will lose the election so they want to get rid of one opponent ... When Malacañang says it is not involved, it’s involved. It’s always the other way around," he maintained. — With Sheila Crisostomo