Defensor: Zuce paid by opposition

Former Malacañang staffer Michaelangelo Zuce, the latest to accuse President Arroyo of electoral fraud, was paid by the opposition to make unsubstantiated allegations and undermine the administration, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor claimed yesterday.

Zuce is among a number of paid "witnesses" being lined up against Mrs. Arroyo, he charged.

"I’m not implying, I’m saying that he was paid — unless he looks me in the eye and tells me he was not," Defensor declared, although he admitted to not knowing how much Zuce had supposedly received. Nevertheless, he claimed the fee must have been hefty.

"I want to know (directly from) him, because his statement was so vague," Defensor said, adding Zuce’s claims were "incredible in a sense. What he was saying was really incredible."

Mrs. Arroyo’s political adviser, Gabriel Claudio, said the Palace would hail Zuce to court but did not say what the charges would be.

"The lawyers of Malacañang are going over the transcripts of the press conference and the documents that he submitted to the media," Claudio told a press briefing.

Defensor cast doubt on Zuce’s claims that Mrs. Arroyo had met with election officials in early 2004 at her house in La Vista subdivision in Quezon City where bribes of P30,000 each were allegedly handed out.

He said such a meeting was impossible because he had handled Mrs. Arroyo’s schedule.

"First, I want to know the dates he was talking about. I want to know when this particular (thing) happened. Because I was not there, I was not with the President. Zuce should make it all clear," Defensor told reporters.

"Second, Zuce should tell whether he received or did not receive any money for his statement. Because Zuce would not be the only one to come out. More impostors would surface and supposedly reveal what they supposedly know about the last elections and the supposed poll fraud."

Legal analysis

Sen. Miriam Santiago, a former Quezon City trial court judge, said Zuce’s accusations were insufficient to prove wrongdoing under the rules of court.

There was unreasonable delay on Zuce’s part in making his accusations and this would render his testimony unacceptable under Supreme Court rulings, she said.

"Failure to reveal what one has witnessed about a crime for a number of days or weeks or even a number of months is allowable. But that will not hold true where the delay unreasonably stretches all too far over a year and four months, especially in the absence of any compelling or rational basis for such self-imposed and lengthy silence," Santiago told reporters, explaining that the natural reaction of a person who had witnessed a crime would be to report it to the authorities.

Further, Zuce produced only circumstantial evidence which Santiago said is normally insufficient to prove such allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

Under the rules of court, at least two instances of circumstantial evidence must be produced by an accuser to justify a conviction and in Zuce’s case he produced only one, which was Mrs. Arroyo’s supposed meeting with election officials, Santiago pointed out.

"Zuce has only presented one circumstantial evidence. Even worse, he merely alleged; he has not proved. According to the Supreme Court, to allege is not to prove."

Zuce’s motives were also questioned by Santiago, citing statements from his former boss and colleagues.

He may have been motivated by revenge because he was forced to resign from the Office of the Coalition Affairs, which took in Zuce when his former office was closed down.

His former boss, Undersecretary Raymundo Roquero, said Zuce was let go because of absenteeism.

Another possible motive is financial gain, Santiago added. A former Zuce officemate, Andrew Gutierrez, claimed that Zuce owed several people thousands of pesos.

Zuce’s former boss, former Arroyo political adviser Joey Rufino, said Zuce had "asked for finances which he said he needed for his upkeep and to salvage his failed business in Mindanao."

"Apparently his financial needs became urgent when he was fired from the Office of Coalition Affairs June 16, 2005, after being absent since April 16, 2005," Rufino said in a statement to the press.

It would be ideal if Rufino and Zuce could both testify in a legal proceeding such as an impeachment trial and be cross-examined by lawyers, Santiago said.

Because Rufino is suffering from liver cancer and may not be able to testify, Santiago suggested that Arroyo lawyers get a deposition or obtain a sworn statement from him.

"Otherwise, there will be a failure of justice if Mr. Zuce is allowed to get away with his yarn… and the person who is best to contradict him is not there."

Whistle-blower or election fixer?

Meanwhile, a defeated mayoral candidate from Masbate came forward yesterday and claimed that Zuce was a fixer at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and had cheated him out of P1.5 million in 2001.

"Zuce is a fixer. He duped me," Charito Abapo, former mayor of San Fernando town, told a press conference.

He met Zuce during a mayors’ national conference at Sheraton Hotel in Manila in 2001, where Zuce volunteered to follow up Abapo’s electoral protest with the Comelec for P6 million, Abapo recounted.

Zuce introduced himself as a political officer of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats ruling party in charge of election protests with the Comelec.

After a series of meetings at Manila Hotel, it was agreed that Abapo would pay an initial P1.5 million and the balance would follow later after a favorable decision had been handed down.

Abapo’s protest was junked, however. "When I called him he told me that there were changes in the poll body and that he would just return the money," Abapo said.

Instead, Zuce changed his mobile phone number and cut off contact.

Abapo finally threatened to file charges at one point but was told by Zuce that he had strong Malacañang connections, particularly with then political adviser Rufino.

"We’re going to turn the tables on you," Abapo quoted Zuce as saying.

Abapo said he came forward after seeing Zuce on television last Monday making his accusations against Mrs. Arroyo. His lawyer, Rodel Batocabe, said they would file charges against Zuce before the Office of the Ombudsman because Zuce was then working with the government.

Zuce is expected to testify today in the ongoing Senate inquiry on allegations that Mrs. Arroyo’s husband, eldest son and brother-in-law were on the payroll from jueteng operators.

He had alleged that the money that was used to bribe Mindanao election officials probably came from illegal gambling proceeds.

Opportunists among the opposition

Political and investment analyst Astro del Castillo warned that with the political bickering between Malacañang and the opposition now very intense, "opportunists" might take advantage of the situation to make fast money.

Castillo, general manager of First Grade Holdings, said the opposition might fall prey to such in their unrelenting efforts to topple Mrs. Arroyo.

"It was clear that the affidavit (of Zuce) was prepared by a lawyer who has ties with the opposition, simply because it mentioned all the other people who were previously suspected of helping the campaign of the President," he said.

Del Castillo cited whistle-blowers in past scandals who later recanted their accusations in congressional inquiries after a thorough investigation.

He added that it is "very easy" for the opposition to accept statements from anyone claiming to have knowledge of presidential wrongdoing because "they are so desperate to pin down the President."

"It is therefore important for them to be very wary before taking the statements of people who claim to be out to help their cause but the truth is that they are working for the other camp."

The allegations of cheating and corruption against Mrs. Arroyo have sparked a political crisis which has seen close allies, including several Cabinet members, desert Mrs. Arroyo and call for her to resign.

She has refused to step down and has denied any wrongdoing.

After failing to mobilize mass protests to unseat her, the opposition last week filed an impeachment complaint against her in the House of Representatives. — With Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez, Marvin Sy, Edu Punay, Perseus Echeminada, Pia Lee-Brago