NBI: Where’s original tape?

The National Bureau of Investigation is still looking for the original "Gloriagate" tape, and unless this is found, there can be no determination that the Anti-Wiretapping Law has been violated, NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said yesterday.

"There are at least four ‘originals’ of this tape, and we are confused how a tape can have four original copies," Wycoco told five House committees looking into the "Gloriagate" controversy.

He said even the so-called original copies "have mutated into so many tapes" and compact discs that are now being freely sold in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

He said the first person to claim he had the original tape was Alan Paguia, a former lawyer of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

"But before we could seek his copy, Samuel Ong (a former NBI official) claimed he had the ‘mother of all tapes.’ And before we could ask him for the so-called mother of all tapes, former senator (Francisco) Tatad claimed he had the original copy, but that he sent it to the United States for authentication," he said.

"There is a fourth original that was sent to Australia also for authentication. So there are at least four originals. We wonder which of these four is really the original," Wycoco added.

He pointed out that US company Voice Identification Inc. (VII), to which Tatad reportedly sent his copy for authentication, had released "inconclusive" findings.

Tatad had claimed that VII said the voices heard on the recordings were similar to those of President Arroyo and former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Answering questions from Representatives Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati and Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, Wycoco said the NBI required the "original wiretapped tape" to subject it to authenticity examination before it could be declared genuine.

He said the two CD versions of the tape that Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye submitted to the NBI last June 6 were "tampered (with) since they were edited, there was a voiceover, and there were extraneous materials (inserted)."

He said under past Supreme Court decisions, even if a supposedly wiretapped tape is found to be authentic, wiretapping can only be established if the person who committed the act comes out and admits it.

He later said in jest, in response to a question, that he hoped he could get his hands "on the original, or the mother of all tapes, or even the father, since at the rate this tape has mutated, there must be a father."

Responding to Assistant Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Wycoco told congressmen that it would be up to them whether or not to play the recordings during hearings.

Cayetano noted that while Bunye and the NBI had played the CDs or portions of them to the public, allies of the President in the committees investigating "Gloriagate" are fighting tooth and nail to prevent the recordings from being played.

Answering another question, Wycoco said he believed the "Gloriagate" recordings were related to reported attempts by some sectors to destabilize the Arroyo administration.

He said the CDs that students and various organizations are giving away for free or selling for just P5 entail a huge amount of funds to produce.

"There must be a group funding this effort," he added.

Responding to Makati Rep. Agapito Aquino, Wycoco said the NBI is not in possession of any wiretapped tapes.

What the agency possesses is the Bunye CDs that the NBI concluded had been tampered with, he clarified.

His answers prompted Aquino to remark that statements by Wycoco’s boss, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, threatening those possessing or playing the "Gloriagate" tapes or the "Hello, Garci" ring tones with criminal charges "are just empty threats."

Aquino said even the fears of his colleagues that receiving the tapes or playing them would mean violating the Anti-Wiretapping Law were unfounded.

Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino Biazon asked the NBI chief if the woman heard in the recordings talking to a man about election fraud sounded like Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales of the party-list group Akbayan, whom Wycoco heard just minutes earlier.

"No, your honor," Wycoco responded.
"Does she sound like Ate Glow, the television talent who mimics the President?" Biazon wanted to know.

"Your honor, I don’t have any personal expertise on voiceprints," he answered.

"Does she sound like the President?" Biazon pressed on.

At this point, Mrs. Arroyo’s allies intervened one after another and invoked House rules and numerous technicalities to prevent Wycoco from giving his opinion. Earlier, Bunye had stated that the woman heard on the recordings sounded like Mrs. Arroyo, but he wasn’t sure.

After a long debate punctuated by a shouting match between Villafuerte and Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, Biazon withdrew his question.

Just an hour earlier, the President’s allies led by Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. prevented Wycoco from turning over the Bunye CDs to the five committees.

Minority Leader Francis Escudero, who moved for the Bunye CDs to be turned over to the probe panels, wondered why his colleagues from the administration bloc were afraid of the "Gloriagate" recordings.

He said while the President’s allies allowed the committees to take possession of Paguia’s CD copy on Wednesday, they apparently did not want to have anything to do with the two copies that Bunye played before Malacañang reporters last June 6 before submitting them to the NBI.

Also yesterday, Ong’s lawyer Homobono Adaza wrote the five committees to inform them that his client would be appearing before hearings next week.

In his letter, Adaza quoted Ong’s message sent to him through text: "Listening 2 d daily hearings of Congress. Kindly assure chairmen 5 committees dat I will appear as resource speaker next week. Bahala na Dios sakin. Since I m listening 2 daily hearings I will know kung wala ng resource persons. I will then text u 1 day in advance b4 I show (up)."

Adaza said he hoped the committees would allow his client to play the "mother of all tapes... so the truth will set us free."

In a related development, Cebu congressmen led by Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar and Eduardo Gullas said they disagreed with their colleague, Rep. Clavel Martinez, that there was widespread electoral fraud in their province in the May 2004 presidential election.

"The President won fair and square in Cebu, including Cebu City," they said.

Other allies of Mrs. Arroyo said the President "won by one million votes and that’s a clear vote of confidence."

In a joint statement, they said those questioning Mrs. Arroyo’s victory last year should have filed their complaints with the proper forum.