Senate sets first ‘Hello Garci’ wiretap probe today

The Senate begins today its initial hearings on President Arroyo’s controversial wiretapped conversations with a purported election official during the vote count of the May 10, 2004 elections.

Citing a possible breach of national security, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the committee on national defense and security, stressed the need for a congressional inquiry over the issue and the status of the investigation by the military over the incident.

"I consider this a serious breach to national security. We have to raise questions. Who wiretapped the President and (for) what purpose? What is the government doing about this? Is the government investigating this? And if, indeed, it is investigating this, what is the result of the investigation?" he asked.

Biazon said the military top brass must explain why the wiretapping occurred and why the President herself was the victim of electronic eavesdropping.

He said the Senate investigation would focus on the country’s vulnerability to such breaches since the President herself was the subject of a wiretapping operation.

Among those summoned to appear before the committee are Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Generoso Senga; Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, AFP Inspector General Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga, ; deputy chief of staff for intelligence Rear Admiral Tirso Danga, Brig. Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) chief Brig. Gen. Marlu Quevedo, Philippine Military Academy (PMA) assistant superintendent Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, and Col. Alexander Balutan, assistant commandant of the PMA Corps of Cadets.

Biazon said he will also raise the involvement of four senior military officers in the so-called "Hello, Garci" tapes.

"Garci" is the name of an election official — allegedly former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano — referred to in the recordings.

The four generals who were investigated after their names were linked to the Garci tapes are Gudani, Esperon, former Southern Command chief Roy Kyamko, and former Task Force Comet chief Gabriel Habacon.

Gudani was then 2nd Marine Brigade chief before he was transferred to the PMA.

Biazon said the military officers will be asked whether they were used, or if they allowed themselves to be used as instruments in the alleged election fraud last year.

The former AFP chief stressed the incident has raised serious concerns among the ranks of the Armed Forces.

Biazon claimed many middle-grade officers have expressed concern over the reported involvement of some of their senior officers in the alleged poll cheating last year.

Military intelligence officers are suspected of conducting the wiretapping before the votes were counted, but military officials have denied this. — With AP