Susan: Nothing to gain from this

"My candidate is dead and there’s nothing to gain from this."

With these words, actress Susan Roces, widow of opposition presidential candidate and actor Fernando Poe Jr., virtually rejected calls of the opposition to mount a new people power revolt to unseat President Arroyo.

"We want (a peaceful) dialogue. At hindi sigawan at mag-aaway (not bickering or a shouting match)," Roces said.

The veteran actress, who had become a rallying point for the political opposition following the death of Poe last year, distanced herself somewhat from calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation.

"Gusto nating umunlad ang bayan. Ang katunayan o katibayan kung sino ang nagwagi sa halalan ay hindi na ito tungkol sa halalan dahil patay na ang aking kandidato. Wala tayong mahihita (We all want our country to move forward. Any evidence that will prove who was the real winner in last year’s presidential elections is no longer the issue here since my candidate is dead already. We don’t stand to gain from this)," she said.

Roces made the statement before journalists after emerging from a closed-door meeting with former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong at the San Carlos seminary in Guadalupe, Makati City.

Ong had been holed up in the seminary a day after claiming at a Makati news conference that he was in the possession of what he called the "mother of all tapes," detailing a supposed conversation between President Arroyo and Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to rig the results of last year’s presidential elections.

Ong had appealed to the public for protection and sought refuge at the seminary Friday night.

A very calm and composed Roces emerged from the meeting and declared the need for a peaceful and just resolution to the crisis triggered by Ong’s disclosures.

Roces virtually doused calls that she lead a forceful resolution to the issue.

"This is not desire for power. Power for what? This is not about politics. This is because I feel I have to come here," Roces told local and foreign journalists that had staked out the seminary since Friday night.

"Huwag natin pong itong gawin na isang bagay na makakadagdag ng suliranin sa ating lahat (Let us not do things that will only cause more problems for all of us)," she said.

"Gusto natin kung ano ang ating karapatan, yun lamang po (We only want to do what is just and right. That’s all)," she added.

Roces stressed that she was just a "simple citizen" who could not comprehend what would be in store for the country following Ong’s revelations.

"What you ask me — where this would lead us — is the same question I ask myself. But all I know is one of God’s teachings: Though shall not steal!" Roces blurted out.

The actress said she had not listened to the tapes but merely heard what was discussed in the recordings at the press conference last Friday.

"I just asked about his (Ong) condition and he told me he is in a good situation and that he has lawyers taking care of him. All he is asking is for equal application of the law," Roces said.

She stressed Ong merely wanted to bring out the truth so that justice could be served.

"Ang hinihiling lang ngayon ay magkaroon ng patas na hustisya (What is needed now is for equal justice to prevail)," Roces stressed.

She urged that Ong should be given an opportunity to air his side of the story.

"I am not a judge on whatever (tapes) he (Ong) has on his hands. But maybe it’s worth it to listen to him," she said.

The actress also took the opportunity to call on authorities not to harass Ong’s friends and supporters who had camped out at the seminary grounds.

"The soldiers are not here to harm anyone. They are the soldiers for all Filipinos, not for one person only, but for all of us," Roces exhorted.

Call For Sobriety

Some allies of President Arroyo welcomed Roces’ statements.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor, who served as campaign manager of President Arroyo in last year’s elections, told The STAR that Roces made a "very heart-warming" statement.

"We thank Mrs. Susan Roces for calling for calm and sobriety during these times of crisis," Defensor said.

"What we need to do now is to act as one nation. The time for politics has passed and now is the time to reconcile and work together," he said.

Defensor swore the administration camp did not commit systematic electoral fraud to ensure the victory of Mrs. Arroyo in last year’s presidential race.

"There is no doubt in my mind, deep in the hearts of my opposition friends, there was no systematic and deliberate cheating at the national level although there maybe a lot of such instances at the local level," Defensor admitted.

Poe died last Dec. 14 with his election protest pending before the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).

Actress Roces — Jesusa Sonora Poe in real life — had asked PET to name her instead as the petitioner but the court turned down her request and dismissed the election protest last March 29.

The Supreme Court said Roces could not substitute for her deceased husband since under the PET rules "only the registered candidates who obtained the second and third highest votes for the presidency may contest the election of the president."

The opposition, however, was indignant over the decision, still hoping that evidence would surface to prove their contention that the administration committed electoral fraud to snatch away victory from the popular actor. Ong’s revelations last Friday seemed to fuel their hopes.

Former President Corazon Aquino, for her part, made an appeal to both the opposition and the administration for sobriety.

"There has been so much talk about so many accusations and counter-accusations. What are we to do and whom are we going to believe?" Mrs. Aquino asked.

"For my part, I have been praying and I have asked the Good Lord to have mercy on us, the Filipino people. Let us pray for one another to help us in our search for the truth," she said.

The former chief executive called on the faithful to pray for peace the country amid the latest controversies rocking the Arroyo administration.

"May God bless us all with His love and with His peace," Mrs. Aquino said.

Ong had claimed to be "apolitical," but called on Mrs. Arroyo to step down, calling her an "illegitimate president,"

During the press conference where he presented the tapes, Ong included a litany in which he blamed Mrs. Arroyo for the "poverty and corruption" in the country.

He urged Poe’s widow to appear in the press conference, "because these (audio) tapes show that her husband had been cheated."

Ong claimed to have given copies of the tapes to three trusted people but declined to name them.

One of the tapes had apparently reached the hands of suspended lawyer Alan Paguia who publicly admitted to "editing" the tapes.

‘Undoctored’

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is among the critics of the Arroyo administration, meanwhile claimed to have authenticated the audiotapes that came from Paguia.

Lacson claimed he utilized the services of an Australian firm that conducted a voice-identification analysis of the tape.

The former national police chief declared the tapes to be "genuine, unadulterated and undoctored," belying claims by the government that they were altered evidence meant to pin down Mrs. Arroyo on election fraud.

Though Lacson did not identify the firm, the senator vouched for the integrity of its findings.

"The report is just saying that it was not altered and is, therefore, authentic," Lacson said.

He added that the analysts did not identify those speaking on the audiotape but focused only on the possibility of alteration.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye had initially admitted the voice on the tape was that of Mrs. Arroyo. Bunye later backtracked and expressed his doubts.

Lacson led other sectors in insisting for a scientific approach to verifying the authenticity of the wiretapped conversation.

The senator claimed he personally paid the costs of subjecting the tapes to independent analysis.

Administration lawmaker Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. had called for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist by conducting an analysis of the tapes.

Ong also challenged the government to have the tapes independently verified by the FBI. - With Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy