Whistle-blower in 'Garci' dies

MANILA, Philippines – Former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong is dead.

The man who exposed the “Hello, Garci” tapes linking President Arroyo to alleged fraud in the 2004 elections, died of cardiac arrest at the Chinese General Hospital in Manila yesterday.

Before he died, the 65-year-old Ong received the last rites from Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr.

He died 15 minutes after former President Joseph Estrada visited him at the hospital.

Speaking over Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas, Bacani said Ong’s family had asked him to give the last rites to the former NBI official.

“Ong’s condition is really bad and he already has difficulty speaking… The family would not want me to disclose his location… He has a very good Catholic family,” he said.

Ong reportedly specifically asked for Bacani.

He does not know how long Ong has been sick, Bacani said.

In a telephone interview with The STAR, Estrada said Ong risked his life and those of his family for the truth.

“He died 15 minutes after I left the hospital,” he said.

“He is the Bayani ng Katotohanan. Had it not been for Samuel Ong, we would not know the truth about the abuses of this administration. I express my sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Sammy Ong.

“He was a brave and courageous man whom we should consider a hero because he fought for the truth and for justice for the Filipino people who were deprived of their chosen president.”

Estrada said he visited Ong at his sick bed because he admired him for risking his life, ambition and career in exchange for the truth.

“He is a Hero of Truth,” he said.

“He was an NBI (official) when I was still president. I admired his courage and love for the truth. Had it not been for him, the people will never know the cheatings in the 2004 presidential elections.

“There is one thing clear in the present administration, if you tell the truth, you will be jailed.”

Estrada said it was the first time that he saw Ong when he visited him at the Intensive Care Unit of the Chinese General Hospital.

“I was not really aware that he was working with the NBI when I was still president,” he said.

“I was informed that I even promoted him to an assistant executive director of the NBI in one province.

“He should be emulated by the Filipino people for his love for truth, courage in putting his life at risk, his ambition. He took for granted his career for the truth to come out.”

In a separate interview with The STAR hours before Ong died, his son and namesake Samuel Ong Jr., said his father suffered terminal lung cancer.

“His lung cancer is now terminal,” he said.

“But he is fighting. He is sedated right now. He has been in and out of the hospital. His last admission here was last February.”

Ong Jr. said among his father’s last few words were:

“I was on the brink of that, but God had pulled me away because I have an unfinished fight.

“You could gauge from his words that until the end his will power to fight remains strong. He was a heavy smoker and a regular drinker before.

“He always told us to just do your own little part in your profession and stand by your principles always. That is his usual advise to us, his children.”

Ong Jr., the second to the eldest of four children and an engineer in Doha, Qatar, said the Ong family would be very grateful to all Filipinos if they will remember the good deeds of their father.

“He also always told us that history will judge him well,” he said.

“To our family, we have no other wish but for the Filipino people to remember what he did for the country.”

Ong Jr. said he and his siblings asked their father to lay low and stay away from the limelight.

“We told him that he has done his part already,” he said.

“He was very much disappointed with what had happened to Jun Lozada (who revealed the truth about the ZTE-NBN deal). He said he admired Jun Lozada for his courage for coming out in the open and revealed the truth.

“He said he had the same frustrations like what happened to Jun Lozada. But what is important, according to my father, is that they revealed the truth.”

It was Bacani who reportedly made arrangements for Ong and military intelligence agent Vidal Doble to seek refuge at the San Carlos Seminary in Makati on June 10, 2005. They were later transferred to an undisclosed place by Bataan Bishop Socrates Villegas.

Bacani stood by Ong when he came out in public and claimed that he had the “mother of all tapes,” referring to the Garci tapes, and that his life was in danger because of his exposé.

Ong allegedly possessed the original copy of the wiretapped conversation between former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and a woman whose voice sounded like that of Mrs. Arroyo.

Garcillano and the woman reportedly discussed vote rigging in the 2004 presidential elections.

Ong reportedly urged the military to come forward and reject Mrs. Arroyo as commander-in-chief “because she has no mandate from the people, having cheated her way to the presidency.”

Ong was charged with inciting to sedition before the Department of Justice. — Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan