Budget cut threatens AFP, PNP over San Mateo raid

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile warned the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) may face budget cuts for failing to justify the legality of their raid on the residence of opposition handwriting expert Segundo Tabayoyong.

During a Senate inquiry, Enrile, along with other senators, noted inconsistencies in the statements of the lawmen who conducted the raid at the rented house of Tabayoyong in San Mateo, Rizal last month.

Enrile issued the warning during the first hearing of the Senate inquiry into the San Mateo raid following allegations it was conducted without a search warrant.

Boxes of election returns were seized by lawmen during the raid, sparking allegations that it was conducted to harass the opposition. Tabayoyong was not around when the lawmen swooped down on his residence.

For the first time, Tabayoyong, a former handwriting expert of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), appeared before the panel facing the lawmen who had searched his house.

Sen. Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate committee conducting the inquiry, hinted the Aug. 16. raid conducted by the joint operatives of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), could have been part of a bigger conspiracy to cover up alleged fraud committed in the May 10, 2004 elections.

The AFP contingent was represented by ISAFP chief Maj. Gen. Marlu Quevedo while Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes and Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon represented the PNP before the panel.

In the course of the proceedings, Tabayoyong tried to establish that his supposed landlady, Carmela Cabuhat, could not be the complainant against him.

Tabayoyong said Cabuhat had allowed him to live in the house out of "sympathy" for what he had been doing for the opposition. Cabuhat, however, failed to attend yesterday’s hearing.

Tabayoyong called the attention of the Senate to the seized election documents, claiming that some were apparently missing after being returned to his custody by the CIDG last month.

He said the alleged "missing" documents include those pertaining to the Jose Pidal controversy, allegations that members of President Arroyo’s family are on the take from illegal gambling operators, and the controversial "Hello, Garci" wiretap conversations between Mrs. Arroyo and an election official believed to be former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Tabayoyong claimed before senators that the padlock on his attaché case had been forcibly opened.

He said that among the documents missing were a comparative chart of Jose Pidal signatures, evidence on election fraud, election returns with no vote counts but with fingerprints, and an election return used in 2001.

According to Tabayoyong, the missing returns established discrepancies "on how the taras (columns) were written, including the length of the taras."

Tabayoyong was hired by the opposition to examine the fifth copy of the election returns given to the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), the dominant opposition party in the 2004 elections.

Senators noted inconsistencies in the statements made by law enforcement officials during the four-hour long inquiry.

Among the inconsistencies, the senators noted, was on the question of which agency initiated the operation.

The PNP said it was a legitimate police operation since it was made in response to the call of Cabuhat who sought police assistance after seeing the boxes of election returns in her house.

Quevedo, for his part, testified that the raid was a result of a long-planned anti-terrorism operation.

Quevedo later admitted authorizing the raid during interrogation by Enrile.

Enrile and other senators said they are not buying Quevedo’s story that the raid was triggered by reports of alleged Abu Sayyaf members holed up in the area.

"They are all lying," an exasperated Enrile said. He said the situation was even worse than during the martial law years when he was then the defense minister of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

"This is not a police state, masahol pa kayo sa martial law namin (you are even worse than those during the martial law years)," Enrile told the lawmen.

Enrile also questioned Quevedo on why Cabuhat was given security by the ISAFP.

Lacson had pointed out that Cabuhat personally informed him about being guarded by troops, contrary to Quevedo’s claims that it was she who sought security assistance.

Earlier, the leader of the CIDG raiding team Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, claimed they had to respond to the call of assistance phoned in by Major Serme Ayoyao of the ISAFP.

Ayoyao led a team that was first to arrive at the Cabuhat residence where they found the boxes of election returns and handguns allegedly belonging to Tabayoyong.

The police later charged Tabayoyong with illegal possession of firearms last Aug. 25, but the boxes of election returns were returned to his custody, along with Agripino Bagbag, a lawyer of former senator Loren Legarda.

Legarda had claimed the seized election returns form part of her evidence before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal where she has a pending electoral protest against Vice President Noli de Castro.

Villar, on the other hand, said the military intelligence agents merely gave an "impression" that they were conducting routine police work when they sought the assistance of the CIDG.

"It was clear that they are looking for something, It was clear that they are covering it up," Villar said in Filipino.

Lacson also raised suspicions that the raid was part of a cover-up of election fraud.

He said there was "more here than meets the eye" about the alleged cover-up of election fraud.

Lacson was bothered by Cabuhat’s calling for police assistance through the ISAFP, if her concern had simply been security.

He said the claims of the ISAFP of the supposed presence of Abu Sayyaf bandits in the area was "just a cover story" to give credence to the operation.

"Apparently, they were looking not for Abu Sayyaf but they were looking for Tabayoyong because he has in his possession important documents related to election fraud," said Lacson, a former police chief.