Paguia: Tapes came from Tatad

Former senator Francisco Tatad is the source of the "Gloriagate" tapes that five House committees inquiring into the controversy played on Tuesday, lawyer Alan Paguia admitted yesterday.

Paguia, who has turned over the tapes to the committees, made the admission in an interview with reporters who confronted him with an article in Time magazine in which Tatad revealed that he was the source of the audio recordings.

He said that in the face of his source’s revelation, "there is no more need (for me) to hide under the cloak of confidentiality."

Paguia said Tatad gave him the tapes last May 15 for "legal study."

"The motive here is irrelevant. What is relevant and important is the conversation recorded in the tapes," he said.

He later confirmed to the five committees that Tatad was indeed the source of the tapes. The committees decided to invite the former senator to shed light on his acquisition of the recordings.

Paguia, a former counsel of ousted President Joseph Estrada in his plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan, had refused to disclose the identity of his source, saying he promised him not to do so.

Contacted by The STAR last night, Tatad confirmed he was the source of Paguia’s tapes but claimed he never consented to its subsequent reproduction into a condensed version.

Tatad said he is willing to attend the House hearings if invited to shed light on his role in the release of the tapes.

"I did not disseminate it. It was (done) without my consent and authority. He (Paguia) released the shortened version (to the press) without my approval. He did it on his own," he added.

Tatad, however, could not say who gave him the tapes, except that it was addressed to him as chairman of the Citizens Against Corruption Task Force.

"Actually, that tape came to (my possession) early April while I was busy preparing to go abroad and I did not pay any attention to it," he recalled. He was then set to go to the Vatican for the burial of Pope John Paul II and proceeded to the US for a vacation.

When he returned to Manila, he said, he got a second letter asking him if he had heard the contents of the tapes.

"I listened to it first week of May and sent this tape to the US for authentication," he said.

When the authenticated tapes were sent back to him, Tatad said, he gave a copy to Paguia to study the legal implications as to the crime and culpability of the public officials and other individuals whose conversations about rigging the election results were heard.

Tatad added he thought it wise that somebody who is "politically neutral" or somebody from the Church who should be the one to expose the existence of the tape to remove any political color to the act.

But Paguia, he said, jumped the gun on him after Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye presented the "fake" tapes at Malacañang last June 6.

The next day, Paguia also came out in the media to claim he has the original tapes and that Bunye’s copy was the spliced one.

Tatad, however, expressed no regrets even if Paguia went ahead with his decision to expose the tapes without his consent.

"You cannot replace truth with anything else," he said.

President Arroyo’s allies, including Camarines Sur. Rep. Luis Villafuerte of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), had been pressing Paguia to reveal his source, saying that was the only way to determine whether the recordings were tainted with partisan politics or not.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay of Lakas-CMD, upon learning that Tatad was the source of the tape, accused the political opposition of using the wiretap controversy as mileage for their smear campaign against the administration.

"This is not about the truth. This is all about a power grab. This is all about selfish political interest at its worst," Pichay said.

He pointed out the fact that Tatad was the source only proved that the "brouhaha over the controversial tapes is the fruit of partisan politics," a statement from the lawmaker’s office said.

"It was highly suspicious why Attorney Paguia refused to reveal the source of his tapes in the previous hearings despite persistent demands from several congressmen. He was apparently trying to stonewall the investigation as long as possible to prevent Mr. Tatad’s name from surfacing," Pichay said.

And because Tatad is one of the opposition’s chief lieutenants, this makes him a tainted source, said Pichay. "This fact negates the former senator’s credibility and the credibility of any other information that may come from him," he said.

In a related development, members of the House tape probe committees rejeced Paguia’s request for immunity from prosecution, saying he was "in no position to make demands" and that it was too late for him to ask for immunity.

Lakas Rep. Joel Mayo Almario of Davao City said the timing of Paguia’s immunity request was "highly suspicious" since he could have made this earlier in the hearings prior to giving a spliced and altered version of his mother tapes.

"Why ask for immunity when he was too proud and brave to do so when he was presenting his spliced version of the two tapes? He should be man enough to present his mother tapes without any precondition," Almario said.

Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco said Paguia’s immunity request ios out of the question now because the House is intent on hearing the two tapes.

"Is he trying to protect himself or other individuals whose conversations were in the tapes? If this excuse is that the contents of the tapes are incriminating, then we can hear them in an executive session. He cannot stop us from hearing them," Cuenco said.

At the start of yesterday’s hearing, members of the five committees entered into the record their observations on the Paguia tapes that were played before the nation on Tuesday night.

Members belonging to the administration bloc observed that many of the conversations in the tapes were incomplete and could not be the basis for making conclusions.

Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon noted that the introduction made by an unidentified annotator before every conversation in the recordings was couched in "military language."

The introduction contains the date and time when the conversation were made. If a conversation was conducted at 8 a.m., the time was recorded as 0800H on hotel. If it was taped at 1 p.m., the time was indicated as 1300H.Biazon and Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, a former Navy officer, said it is the military that uses such language.

Biazon, whose father Sen. Rodolfo Biazon was involved in a toss-up fight with Senate colleague Robert Barbers for the last senatorial slot in last year’s elections, confirmed some of the events referred to in the tapes.

He said it is true that his father planned to petition the Commission on Elections for the opening of the ballot boxes in Tawi-Tawi because he felt he was being cheated there.

In the recordings, a female caller sounding like President Arroyo relates to "Garci," believed to be former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, her concerns about the Biazon plan.

She tells Garci that if the Tawi-Tawi ballot boxes were opened, "baka ako raw madale doon ( It would be my votes that might be affected)."

Before the five committees heard their witnesses for the day, there was a short debate on whether committee members would give credence to rumors and innuendoes being circulated through text messages.

It was Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella of the administration bloc that prompted the discussion when he confronted Minority Leader Francis Escudero about a text from an unknown source alleging the latter had met with Garcillano at the Manila Hotel.

Escudero told his colleagues that he should disregard such a baseless intrigue "in the same manner that we ignored the text that members of the majority were initially paid P500,000 each to defend the President in this inquiry."

Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, who chairs the public information committee that is leading the "Gloriagate" inquiry, admonished his colleagues against giving credence to text rumors, insinuations and innuendoes. — With Marichu Villanueva