Ong tells NBI: I shall return

An optimistic Samuel Ong, former deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, reportedly called up his erstwhile colleagues to announce his "impending" return to the bureau within the month, NBI officials disclosed yesterday.

NBI-National Capital Region Director Edmund Arugay claimed that before Ong made his controversial claim last Friday about possessing the alleged audio recordings of President Arroyo talking to an election official, Ong called up his former agents with a promise that he’d soon be back working at the bureau.

Arugay added Ong even punctuated his promise with the statement, "I shall return," recalling the words immortalized by American general Douglas MacArthur in vowing to liberate the Philippines from Japanese invaders during World War II.

Arugay expressed his belief that Ong, now being hunted by the government on charges of inciting to sedition, made the call to his former subordinates at the bureau in the apparent belief that the worst was not yet over for Mrs. Arroyo.

Arugay added that Ong might have been led to believe that the political storm sparked by his revelations about the wiretapped telephone conversation would overcome Mrs. Arroyo and sweep in a new administration that would install him as the new NBI director.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco and other bureau officials had claimed Ong was too preoccupied with his personal ambition to become the NBI chief.

Ong became disappointed after Wycoco, a retired police general and an "outsider," was appointed to head the bureau.

Officials said Ong led a faction against the appointment of Wycoco, a move which also caused him to be transferred from the bureau to an administrative task under the supervision of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Wycoco claimed Ong had offered his services to Sen. Panfilo Lacson during the presidential campaign last year.

But when Lacson failed to do well in the surveys, Ong transferred to the camp of opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.

For his part, NBI Interpol chief Ricardo Diaz corroborated Arugay’s statement.

"Yes, (there) had been stories circulating within the agency," he said.

"This shows that there is evident premeditation. This is not a spontaneous outburst. This was planned," he said.

Diaz claimed Ong had been involved in destabilization moves since June 10, 2004.

At that time, Ong was the NBI’s deputy director for regional operations, he said

Diaz recalled Ong called up their Cebu office last year and asked its agents to secure Horacio Morales, the former agrarian reform secretary of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Sources also added the former NBI deputy director allegedly instructed agents to provide security for 10 witnesses in the case of alleged massive electoral cheating committed by the administration in Cebu.

The 10 witnesses, wearing black hoods to conceal their faces, were presented before the media by the opposition led by Morales.

Ong reportedly ordered three NBI agents not to relay the information to their immediate superior, acting NBI Central Visayas District Office chief Reynaldo Esmeralda.

Sources added the three NBI agents had agreed to testify against Ong.

On the following day, on June 11, 2004, after the 10 witnesses were presented to the media, the driver who had picked them up surfaced, claiming the 10 men had been paid to act as witnesses to the electoral cheating by the administration in Cebu.

Another ranking NBI official revealed the witnesses had been presented to discredit the one million votes gathered by Mrs. Arroyo.

"This would prove a political link of Ong to the opposition, debunking his allegation that his exposé was apolitical," the source said.

"We don’t believe that he (Ong) has no political connection. All his moves are politically motivated," the source added.

Diaz also said that Ong and Sandra Cam, the alleged jueteng whistleblower, were previously acquainted.

Cam testified before the Senate that some family members of the President were receiving monthly payoffs from illegal jueteng operations.

On the other hand, other sources also revealed that Ong’s connection with Cam became apparent during his stint as NBI division head in January 2001.

In the same period, the NBI had filed charges against Cam, also known as Sandra Lim and Sandra de Villa, and secured a warrant for her arrest for illegal drugs.

The source added that the case against Cam stemmed from the information given by the security guards at a townhouse the suspect had been renting.

"It was at that time that this Sandra Cam surrendered to the NBI and sought the help of Ong to clear her name," the source noted. "Ong and Cam could not deny this."

Diaz added that Ong and Cam "knew each other and they have a personal relationship."

Cam allegedly contacted Ong and arranged that she would "surrender" to deny that she was Sandra Lim.

"They even arrived at the press conference holding hands. At that time, Ong headed the NCR unit of the Bureau," Diaz said.

Esmeralda, for his part, hinted that Cam offered to surrender before Ong since they knew each other personally.

Otherwise, Cam would have approached the appropriate office in the NBI handling the drug bust case against her.

The real Sandra Lim, on the other hand, was arrested and later convicted on drug charges, Esmeralda said.

Diaz claimed the exposés of Ong and Cam were orchestrated.

"So what they did was not a spontaneous outburst of patriotism. Their claims that they were not connected with politics are not real," Diaz added.

Meanwhile, sources revealed a technician identified only as "John" is now working under the NBI to disprove the authenticity of the audio recordings.

Sources said John will be presented to the media to demonstrate how alterations can be made to taped conversations.

Wycoco said he met John a month ago, even before Ong publicly came out with his "mother of all tapes" disclosure.

"I met him during the Committee on Appointments (CA) at the Senate. He is now trying to get in touch with me to get information," Wycoco said.

"He (John) said that he loves his country and wants to help. But we have not talked about his expertise. If he thinks that what he knows can help I am willing to talk to him," he added. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe